The Incident of Stable 28
by Yolo Hobo Joe
Summary: Stable 28. One of the last remenants of the Great War. The inhabitants are secure, safe, have good food, and peace. But there are a few issues. Now, one Stallion decided he's had enough and is willing to risk everything to seek freedom from the restriction of the Overmare. The fight is on. Based on Fallout: Equestria and Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons
1. Chapter 1

The door hissed as the airlock in the bulkhead broke, allowing me entrance to a hidden portion of the stable. I wasn't supposed to be here. In fact, my being anywhere except the Cells three layers up without a mare was a direct violation of Stable-Tec law. I'd had enough of life in those things. They were small, claustrophobic cubes with a toilet and a bed. Food was scraps pushed underneath door by the guards. Of course, it didn't help that I was due to be "retired."

What, am I a criminal? No, I am a stallion. This meant that I have one purpose in life. That is to service the mares. These rules were set up by Stable-tec. Well, not to the extent that they are now. These laws had only been instituted within the last fifty to sixty years.

From the stallions' point of view, generations ago, there were two uprisings against the mares. Now, generation after generation of stallions were facing the consequences. This meant that they were regulated. They got the same meal three times a day, their numbers couldn't exceed a certain amount, and they couldn't go anywhere except mare's quarters when they asked.

So, how do the mare's regulate the population? I am the only stallion that actually knew the exact amount of stallions allowed at a time. Fifty. Twenty-five unicorns, twenty-five earth-ponies.

Me? I'm a unicorn. When I was young, I had a name and a Cutie Mark. It was a moon with three stars. I, like all stallions was forced into the breeding service when I was twelve.

They made a mistake with me though. I saw the stallion that I was replacing. Number twenty-six. He was strapped to a table. I still remember his screams as he writhed trying to get away. It was hopeless though.

There was a machine there, with what looked like black lips. It kissed his foreleg and in under a minute, his screams went silent. From that day on, I swore they would never put me on that table. The "Nightkiss," as I called it, was not going to be the end of me.

It's truly incredible what one can do when there's nothing for him to do. I practiced magic. I was quite good at it too. Security hated me for it though. I learned how to manipulate my pip-buck's tracker so that I appeared to be somewhere I wasn't. What a laugh it was when security would find out they were chasing ghosts all through their stable.

I got beaten for it though. Still, it was a good laugh.

Speaking of ghosts, I learned how to separate my mind from my body, this is how I learned pretty much anything academic. I would watch the maintenance mares as they worked on consoles and repaired the stable. I watched and listened for about three years. My magic was strong enough to teleport some poor mare's screwdriver into my cell. Using this and a few bobby pins I stole when I serviced some mare, I practiced lock-picking. This got me into even more trouble, as when I was caught outside of my cell, I lost food and got flogged by security.

I still did it though. I was the only stallion that they couldn't keep in the cell.

Finally, my day came. I was sixteen years old. Sixteen! Three mares opened my cell, I was confused at first. It was only ever one mare to open my cell.

"You've got twenty-four hours," they said.

"Can I ask a question?" I replied.

"No, you can't postpone," they told me.

"That's not what I was going to ask."

They shut the door without letting me finish. But, the moment the cell closed, I made my move. There was a camera in the corner of my cell. It viewed pretty much everything. It was the reason that I got into trouble so much. I did learn that there was a blind spot for the camera, directly underneath. I climbed the walls in the corner. There, in the blind spot, I countered the enchantment I made that hid my tools in a notch in the wall.

Using a screwdriver and my hoof to keep the camera from seeing what was going on, I unscrewed the glass cover. This fell away, leaving the delicate machinery exposed.

The mare that was on shift at this time in the security center was sound asleep. Two empty bottles of alcohol on her desk and one half-empty in her lap. If she had been awake, she would have seen the empty cell for a moment, then a flash of silver as the screwdriver penetrated the lens.

With that out of the way, I turned towards the air vent. It was barely big enough for my hoof to fit, but oh, did I mention I was skilled at magic? I shrank and escaped into the ducts. I knew that they checked in on the twenty-sixes every four hours while they were processing. I had that long to get to a safe place, but where to go?

I was a stallion, this meant I had no free-reign of the stable. My pip-buck had the map ability deactivated by an administrator. I swear, if I ever find out just who exactly blocked everything from my pip-buck except the notes...

Anyway, I made my way straight to maintenance. There was one mare in the room, an earth-pony. I cast a spell that made her need to relieve herself. What? It's the only thing I could think of at the time. I got to a console while she was in the bathroom and downloaded a map into my notes.

Upon examining the notes, there seemed to be hallways the just led out into nothing. They were subtle, but for a pony willing to try anything to escape detection, they were the best chance I had. Next stop, the armory.

This part was dangerous. The armory is one of the most protective places in the stable. Monitored twenty-four seven, this was no cakewalk, unless you could literally turn yourself invisible. Then, I just grabbed a pistol, some ammo and I was back into the vents before the spell wore off.

At this point, the nearest place that resembled a safe point was two floors down on the residential level. I knew this part of the stable. It's pretty much the only portion that mares took me unless somepony was throwing a party elsewhere.

I looked through a vent straight at the wall, studying it for a moment. It looked like a plain old wall, but here I was risking everything. Just as long as the Nightkiss operation is avoided, hey, I'll take a firing squad over that any day. I ghosted to make sure the hall was empty, then began removing the screws to the vents. I was invisible, but anypony that knew how could break an invisibility spell.

I froze as two voices sounded from around a corner. Sure enough two mares, both seemed to be drunk wandered down the halls. They spoke at the same time and one was muttering something about brownies, while the other was not legible and spoke with slurred speech. Neither one noticed the crooked vent. Thank Celestia.

I finished with the vent and reattached it. Finally, I bolted for the wall. Not sure what was going to happen. I braced for the impact against the steel wall. Suddenly, I found myself in a dark, dirty, dank hallway.

There were closets all along both sides, each labelled "Storage," and a console on the wall right inside the entrance. I smiled, a hidden passage. Perfect. Then I noticed the skeleton on the floor, a pistol laying next to it, and sure enough, a chunk of lead inside the skull.

I paused for a while and looked at the skeleton. Then I activated the console. All that was there was a note. I read it.

 **Dear Stallion,**

 **I'm so sorry for whatever you have endured. I tried to stop the Overmare and her hoards, but she outsmarted us at every turn. As a last resort I had these passages installed in the stable. If you ever find your way here, know that it is safe. The spell on the gateway won't allow mares in. The storage rooms are equipped to last at least a decade's supplies if you ration. Maybe less if there's more than one of you. Assuming this message ever gets read, the first stallion to read this I officially dub, by order of Stable-Tec authorization 003, Overstallion of Stable 28. Again, these rooms are safe, not even security will pick up your pip-buck in here. I don't know what has happened, or what stallion life is like, but I do hope you use this place and these supplies well.**

 **Good luck lad,**

 **Overstallion Harvest**

After reading and downloading the little note, I looked back at the skeleton for a few moments. Was this the Overstallion? I took his stable barding because I had none. Stallions weren't allowed to wear clothes. With this in mind, I put on his. Sure enough, the name tag read "M. Harvest."

Immediately I took inventory and piled everthing in the biggest room. Then, I celebrated. I had escaped the Cells, outwitted security, gotten a map...

Ah, I was free. This place wasn't up to standard, but it was mine. There was a smaller hallway that ran parallel to the main hall. A portion of this hall was only held up by a flimsy framework.

I crammed my supplies into the room just on the other side and relaxed on a two-century old pillow. I toasted a bottle of Sparkle-Cola to myself and my escape and for once I felt free and happy. Twenty-six was free at last.

* * *

 **Okay, this is something that I thought up after reading the first chapter of Somber's Fallout Equestria story Project Horizons. The first chapter of which troubled me greatly and this is supposed to be loosely based on Stable 99.**

 **It's been a long time since I've written anything. I don't know if I can update regularly this may be just a one-time thing.**

 **Either way, /).**


	2. Chapter 2

Pink Rose fought to stay asleep as her pip-buck alarm went off, but she knew she needed to get up and get ready for work. After turning it off, she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. This was the worst part of her daily routine. She hated getting up. Her mother always called her lazy and irresponsible, but she couldn't help it. Waking up was difficult for her.

She brushed her teeth and her mane, as she did every morning, and grabbed her clothes to head for the showers. Many ponies tried to woo her and they often got very flirtsy in the showers. Her eye wasn't for mares though. One day, a stallion's name would come up on her pip-buck and she would stick with him if she could.

"Morning, Rose," said a red mare.

"Morning, Tide," she replied.

"So, you gonna take me up on my offer yet?" Tide asked.

Rose shook her head.

"You had better keep your hooves off this flank," she said.

"Awe, c'm on sweetie. You know you're the only mare in our hall that hasn't had some of this."

She came closer and started messaging Rose's flank.

"And, quite frankly, I don't want a piece of it."

Pink Rose thrust the mare's hooves away. Tide shook her head.

"One of these days, Rose. One of these days."

Fortunately, Tide was just finishing up. She grabbed her things and left, leaving Rose alone to enjoy the rest of her shower.

Tide was in security. She had broken the laws by issuing this little exchange, but who cared? Not like anypony actually needed security. The only ponies to ever cross the Overmare or anything she said, were dead already. Nopony even had the courage to try. Security just kind of existed, though they were a harder bunch of mares than the maintainers or food servers.

What was Rose? She was a gardener. It wasn't a difficult, dangerous, or even tedious job. The stable gardens were not even a part of the original stable, and had been carved out of granite and limestone a few generations ago. You couldn't tell, though, except for the shinier metal for the wals. Her only responsibility was to get food in the ground, grown, harvested, and given to the cooks.

She was at her field a little early for the day. Not usually keen on eating breakfast, she decided to munch on a carrot while turning the soil over and applying fertilizer.

"Early again, are we?" said an old grey mare.

"Good morning Ms. Cherry Blossom. Yeah, figured I'd get a head start today," Rose replied.

"You say that every morning. Don't you have some friends or something to enjoy a fine meal with?" asked Cherry.

"I do, but they're all busy with their other friends right now."

"You know how important friendship can be for a young pony like yourself."

It's true, Rose was young. She was barely fifteen. Her pink coat and purple mane made her quite a sight to anypony out for beauty. Yet, the trick with her was getting her to talk to anypony. She never spoke first, and only maintained conversations with ponies she knew well. Nonetheless, She was fifteen and had taken her job at the gardens at thirteen. These two years had gone smooth enough, right?

"That's true, but I meet friends for lunch and dinner. I just wanted to get a head start today is all. Besides, you're here too."

"Oh, I'm just an old coot. You don't need to worry about me."

Before long, the other gardeners arrived and the room filled with the smell of sweat and dirt. The mares gossiped and talked most of the morning. The gardeners were known for being quite docile, but they knew every rumor there was.

When the bell rang for the shift change, the morning shift was dismissed to lunch. The shift were divided into four six-hour increments. These were morning, afternoon, evening, and dawn. Every time a shift changed, some ponies were dismissed for the day while others went to meals.

Rose worked the morning and afternoon shift. Depending on your job, you got different hours. The only one to work around the clock was the Overmare.

At lunch, Rose got a plate of fruits, vegetables, and a bottle of water. Meals in the stable weren't terrible. There were varieties of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner available all day. The food grown was not given out in large amounts, to ponies, due to the limitations. If you were to take the healthy approach to a meal, you could always get a synthesized cube of nutrients. These were tasteless and bland.

No. Rose always made sure to eat fresh vegetables, grown in the gardens.

Some of her friends, Circuit Board and Empty Syringe, were sitting at a booth in the dining hall. They had reserved a seat for her. The two were arguing about something.

"-and then I said, 'We're already over charged. How does the Overmare expect us to even work down here?'"

"Is everything alright?" Rose asked as she approached the booth.

"No," said Circuit. "The boss said that the Overmare wants a ten-percent increase in power output. How're we supposed to manage that? We're unicorns and earth-ponies. Not miracle workers. The generators can only take so much before they explode. To even enter the generator room right now, you need a hazmat suit.

"The Overmare's a nutcase if she thinks that we can manage even five-percent more."

They all hushed up as Trident and Phase walked past. They were both in security. No pony wanted to get caught badmouthing about the Overmare by security.

The two massive mares sat down with Tide and Butcher at a table in the corner. Butcher was unique. There was a reason that her mother named her that. Sometimes she was normal and great to be around, other times, she completely lost it. Some say she actually killed and ate another pony. She knows this rumor and plays it out to keep ponies afraid of her. Surely that was just a rumor though, right? If a pony were to actually eat another pony, the Overmare would get involved.

"Trust in the Overmare," said Syringe, as she sipped some sort of hot soup.

"Couldn't you just, I don't know, rewire it or something?" Rose suggested.

Circuit Board gave her a look that told her that didn't know what she was talking about. Rose just shrugged.

"Hey, what about you, Sye? Anything interesting in medical?"

Syringe just finished sipping her soup.

"Just broken bones, sprains, colds, ponies wanting to get out of work. Oh, There is a new UP-26 that's going to be retired. I'm on the team that's going to do it. I'm kind of nervous about it actually. I've never done shots before."

"Well good luck with that then," they said.

They continued to eat and talk about ponies for the rest of the meal period. When the bell rang to return to duty, Rose and Syringe returned to their posts, while Circuit went to her quarters. Her shifts were over and she was done for the day.

The evening shift passed by without any problem. Half of the mares were replaced by new ones and that was that. Six hours later they were released to dinner.

Twice a day, the Overmare would give announcements over the intercom in the dining room. Rose missed the morning announcements, as she went to her field instead. For dinner, she had the same thing as she had for lunch.

Syringe was sitting alone in a corner table.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked as she approached.

"That stallion I told you about?"

"Yeah?"

The blue unicorn motioned for Rose to lean closer. Then she whispered into her ear.

"He escaped."

"What? What do you mean escaped? How could he have escaped?"

While it was true that the cells were secure and monitored at all times, every once in a while a stallion managed to get loose. This was especially true as their retirement loomed closer. They'd get out somehow, usually by picking the lock. Some would try to make a dash for the massive, gear-shaped main door. Others tried to get to the armory. Some few went to maintenance.

Everypony did something different when they got out. The younger ones usually just wandered the halls. Very rarely, though it did occasionally happen, a stallion would suicide.

"I have no idea. We looked the cell over and over. He'd gotten out before. Time and time again we caught him roaming the stable. His pip-buck also malfunctioned sometimes. It would show him all over the stable, then we'd find him just sitting in his cell. I've never seen anything like it. He just disappeared."

"Without a trace?"

"Just gone. The camera was sabotaged, but the lock wasn't even picked."

"What kind of pony is he? Maybe I can help."

"Good luck, security has been sweeping the stable for hours. His pip-buck isn't even on the grid. But that's not unusual for him. He's bright red unicorn buck. I always kinda liked him. He was cute. But also, there's something else."

"What's that?"

"I've been thinking about the procedure ever since I found out I would be on the team conducting it..."

"Yes?"

"I just don't think I could have done it, you know? I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

Syringe looked at Rose.

"You know what, never mind. I just have mixed feelings about the escape. On one hoof, I hope we catch him. The retirement process is just fine. Just one shot and it's done. It's quick. It's painless. Buck, I'd almost consider requesting it for when I'm older. On the other, I hope that buck knows what he's doing. I hope he gets out the door okay."

There was pause in their conversation.

"No offense of course. Then again, it is a single buck alone in an entire stable. I just hope he doesn't do something stupid."

Rose looked down at her plate. Why might her comment have offended Rose? Because Rose's mother was the Overmare? Now that didn't mean life was great. Rose had been pretty much left to her own devices since she was six. That was when the previous Overmare died and her mother took her place. Since then she all but disappeared from her life. Every now and then, she'd get a message from her on her pip-buck. Though, it was usually something along the lines of "Why weren't you at the farm on time?"

Rose swallowed a bite of her food.

"You know, either way. It'll work out, I think. Trust the Overmare, right? You said he was a unicorn. Could a unicorn have turned invisible or escaped through some other means?"

"Have you ever seen a stallion try to use magic?"

She put emphasis on her comment by levitating her cup over to a water dispenser and refilling it without even getting out of her seat.

"It's pathetic," she said with a grin.

The Overmare's voice appeared over the intercom. This was one of the two times a day the Overmare addressed the stable to give the news and work orders. There wasn't much out of the ordinary, besides her approval of some mares to throw a party with alcohol and stallions in a few days. She did mention the UP-26 that had escaped. Apparently, she didn't think much of it. Just said "remains at large."

When her mother was finished, Rose shrugged. She was finished with her meal and decided to turn in for the night.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ey Sye?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Syringe said with a wave of her hoof.

Rose went straight to the washroom. She cleaned her face and looked at the pretty pink earth-pony in the mirror. Then she returned to her quarters after getting released from duty. She could spend the next twelve hours doing whatever she wanted.

She picked a book off of her shelf and began to read something about a hero that swung on vines to get relics from ancient temples. The stable broadcast played music on her pip-buck for two or three hours until she began to grow tired.

She put her book down and looked around her room. It was dark purple and her fake window overlooked an evening city skyline. The stable was doomed if she ever became Overmare. She sighed then lay down to fall asleep and begin her cycle the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

I opened my eyes the next morning. My head pounded and my stomach felt like there were insects writhing around inside it. Not that there were. I was sick. I had slept for as long as could, considering it had been the first full ten hours of sleep I had had since I was a foal. My stomach clenched as I fought the urge to vomit all over my make-shift bed.

It was also the first time that I had eaten anything other than the slop that medical slid under the doors of the breeding cells. Maybe I my stomach just needed to get used to eating something other than the breeder food. Then again, who knew what chemicals were in that stuff. Maybe it was fine until we stopped eating it and it was poison. Maybe they put drugs in it and I was going through some kind of withdraw.

Either way, I couldn't let myself vomit. There'd be no way I could clean it up. I grabbed a bottle of water and took small gulps, hoping it would help calm my stomach. After a minute or two, the gag reflex stopped, but I still felt the nausea.

I still felt sick, but I stepped out of my room and back into the main corridor.

The place was small, compared to the rest of the stable. The walls were stained a brown, rusty, rotten color. It definitely wasn't appealing to the eye, but it was mine. There were five doors branching off of the main corridor. Three on one side, two on the other. The side with two were separated by the hall that connected this place to the rest of the stable. From this side, I could see straight into the hall.

Buck! There was a camera at the intersection where I ran into here. Well I was still there wasn't I? Maybe nopony saw?

The five doors each opened up into a storeroom. Inside were shelves packed with small metal boxes. But ah, the stallions way back when were smart. The boxes were enchanted to be considerably bigger on the inside. There was more equipment than I could go through in a week.

As I was going through one of these boxes, I heard a metallic "CLANG" from outside in the hallway. When I looked to see what it was, there were two security mares standing right at the entrance to my little hideout. The stable was big and I was pretty deep. Not a surprise it took them a whole day to the patrols to my level.

"See? This wall is solid," said a large green mare.

"I promise you, I watched the pip-buck mark on my EFS run straight in here," said the other, a deep purple mare.

EFS stands for Eyes Forward Sparkle. It shows where other ponies are in relation to yourself. For some reason, ponies that wanted to hurt you showed up as red lines, and ponies that didn't as yellow. I only knew that because I once had to service a pip-buck technician. My Pip-buck didn't have one. Well, it does, but every time I try to access it, an error message pops up saying to contact an administrator.

"Of course you did. His pip-buck malfunctions. You know they'd never waste good pip-bucks on stallions. His is probably busted."

"You know what? Let's contact Lens Cap in Surveillance. I'm sure she can check the tapes."

I was stunned. I stood completely still. I had had my invisibility spell on then, right? Looking back, I couldn't remember when it wore off.

The purple mare used an intercom at the end of the hall way.

"Security Patrol A to Surveillance."

After a moment, a dull voice came over the other end.

"Surveillance," it said.

"Lens Cap, can you check the cameras for section seventy-six?"

The pony sighed. "I don't need to. I already saw what happened."

I gulped. Had I been seen?

"The UP-26 was detected making a break straight for the wall. He was invisible, but his spell wore off just half way through the hall. Instead of smashing his skull open on it, he just ran right through it, like it wasn't even there."

The green pony was angry. "Why didn't you report this to security? Are you trying to compromise the stable?"

There was a sound like somepony drinking through a straw over the intercom before the reply came.

"I dunno. I get bored here. Maybe I just wanted to see how long it took you to realize what happened."

"Gah! I should have you flogged for this."

"But you won't."

The purple pony stepped in again.

"Thanks for the help, Lens." She closed the intercom. "I'm going to security to get a team together. There could be a spell protecting a portion of the stable. The battering ram should be able to solve the problem quick enough. You stay here and stand guard."

She left and the green pony paced back and forth. I had to figure something out. They know how to get around the protective spell and there would be a whole team coming soon. Let's see, I had magic. There's no way I could take on an entire security team. I had a gun. Still, outmatched. The other option was a last resort.

Come on, think. There's got to be a way out of this. I grabbed my revolver and pointed it at the pacing pony. She'd never know.

No, I would know. I put the weapon away and just began opening doors. Some of the storage rooms were more like storage sections, two or three rooms thick. The last one I checked, was my salvation.

It was all dirt and stone, being supported by a single, century-old, rotting plank of wood. On the other side of this was another storage compartment, still under the protective spell. I began grabbing as many boxes as I could and stacked them in the room from floor to ceiling, again and again.

The room was almost completely filled, except for a space barely big enough for a pony to walk through. I opened the door on the other side. Another storage room. The note did say that it had enough supplies for one pony to last an entire decade on just what was in here. I began piling up boxes in here too. I wasn't going to be able to fill this room.

Seven security mares were setting up a large device that sure enough, looked like a massive, magical battering ram. It could shatter the spell that disguised the entrance, but the other protective spells would remain.

As the ram began to charge, I made one last trip and grabbed the nearest thing that I could, the skeleton of Overstallion Harvest. As I ran back into the store room, I bucked the plank holding the ceiling up. It began to cave in immediately.

I scrambled back into the two-room storage area, and closed the door to keep the rubble out. Moments later, the spell shattered and the small corridor was flooded with security mares armed with police batons.

I was safe yet again, but my shred of freedom had shrunk considerably in but a few minutes.

The mares found no trace of me. Even the note on the one console in the room had been transferred so that it was blank.

I relaxed again, that crisis had been averted. I continued taking inventory for the next few hours. My supplies had been cut, my space had been taken, but it was worth the struggle. I would not fall prey to their Nightkiss.

* * *

 **Alright, Chapter three. I'll admit, I'm kind of making this up as I go.**

 **So our escapee is on day two, and what of that pink mare?**

 **We'll just have to find out. Thank you for reading.**

 **Brohoof/)**


	4. Chapter 4

Day three. I had just woken up and was still going through boxes of food, metal, water, soft drinks, medical supplies, and other stuff that was beginning to just seem like garbage to me. It was about this time that I began to feel something that I had not felt since I had gotten away, but had felt daily for four long years. Boredom.

I gave up looking through the boxes and examined Harvest's pistol. It was a different caliber than the one I had stolen. It was much bigger and seemed like it would pack quite a punch. I noticed the markings on the barrel. I compared it to my stolen revolver. His was marked 10mm. Mine was marked .357. I was gun-smart enough to know that this probably meant that they shot different kinds of bullets.

Setting those aside, I laid back onto my makeshift metal bed. These two rooms originally had one shelving arrangement each. I took both of these apart the night before, reassembling one of them into reasonable sleeping arrangements.

My freedom had been restricted to the two rooms. I was beginning to feel it. One of the boxes had toys, for whatever reason. One of them was a rubber ball. I bounced it off of every wall. Eventually, I just threw it as hard as I could. I ducked to avoid it as it flew all around my room. Unfortunately I paid for my stupidity. I looked up just in time to see my precious plaything vanish behind my stacked storage containers.

I groaned and hit my head against the wall. I would deal with my boredom the same way I dealt with it in the cell block. I meditated on my magic. I allowed the energy to flow through my horn and into the objects around me. It's hard to put magic into words for those who can't use it, but it just kind of happens. I felt particularly powerful, as now I was able to allow my horn to glow. It's amazing how something so subtle can make such a change in capabilities.

I don't know how long I meditated. Minutes? Hours? It doesn't really matter. I was disturbed as my pip-buck made a noise. I looked at it. It was another note from Harvest that had just appeared. It must have been hidden in the coding and programmed to appear after a set time.

 **Overstallion,**

 **I must congratulate you. For surviving this long, you have either been smart enough to avoid detection or stupid enough to sit on your flank for three days. Either way, You've managed to last this long in an environment where everypony has probably been looking to kill you. Now, I'm sure my shelter is beginning to get a little old, so I'm going to give you some choices to relieve some monotony.**

"Getting old," that was an understatement.

 **The first choice is to leave. If you can make it to an elevator, there is a room on the topmost floor of the stable. It's the main entrance. There is a massive gear-shaped door that has been sealed for a very long time. Input the following password into the terminal up there and the door will open. I don't know what the world is like outside, but I can imagine you would be able to experience more freedom than even the Overmare has ever imagined. The password is: CMC-BFF-4EVR. You are the Overstallion and this is your decision to make. But if you want advice of an old Overstallion, the other option is to stay within the stable. Think of your brothers in whatever treatment they are receiving and you escaped from. You can make a real difference and help them re-achieve what I was born into. What you were meant to be born into. Once again though this is your decision. I hope you make the right choice.**

 **Your predecessor,**

 **Overstallion Harvest**

Wow. I relaxed into deep though. You mean I can actually leave? There's an outside where the Overmare can't get to me? The bored feeling was gone. I had a lot to think about.

I looked at the next door, which I hadn't opened yet. Then again, if there's something good on the other side of that door, then maybe I won't ever need to risk getting to that main door. I got up and stared at the metal, airtight mechanism, which I remembered had been the one thing that I wanted to do today. If there was something good on the other side, then I would stay here for a while longer. If there was just more junk, then I would head for the upper levels of the stable as soon as possible.

With a deep breath I reached for the seal. There was a hiss and the door jammed as it hap barely opened. I sighed and reached down to open the door manually. My heart almost stopped as I saw what was on the other side.

The room was pink. Very pink. The walls, the ceiling, everything was pink. The dresser, closet door, and frame around a screen on the wall that showed a large city skyline were purple. I instantly knew where I was. This was a mare's personal quarters.

In the same moment I saw the room, I slammed the massive metal door shut again. That was not what was supposed to happen. "No no no no no," I told myself. "Please no."

The feeling of dread, having been so close to achieving my freedom, just to throw it away like this is unrivaled. I was trembling. I was on the verge of tears. I sat my sorry flank on my bed and waited for the door to open again.

Then I noticed that for a moment there wasn't a response. Maybe the mare had her back turned to my direction and didn't hear the door. Maybe she wasn't even in the room. Mares didn't spend a lot of time in their quarters, right?

Any hope vanished in an instant, as the door reopened to reveal a small pink earth pony standing in the doorway. I could have easily have overpowered her with a single spell, but what good would that have done? It might buy me a few hours, but it would eventually be found out.

"What in Celestia's name?" she said.

All I did was sniffle miserably. She examined my little hideout and instantly she knew what was going on.

"You're the runaway breeder!" she exclaimed. "I thought they'd caught you yesterday with all the drilling in the halls. I though it was funny the Overmare hadn't taken down the reward though. How long has all this been here?"

Great, the Overmare had offered an award for me.

"Please don't tell anypony," I begged. Look at me, great, big, powerful, Overstallion pleading for my life with a mare like this. Great.

Her smile faded. "You know I'm going to have to turn you in."

No, that could not happen. "No you don't," I blurted out. "I've been here for three days and you haven't noticed. We could just pretend you didn't find me." Okay, I knew how terrible my argument was the moment I gave it.

I noticed there was an intercom on the far side of her room.

She shook her head. "Sorry, we just can't do that. I do have to report you to security. If I do, I get the reward. If I don't, then I get marked. I do not want to get marked by security," she explained.

"Not if I don't get caught. I-I'll do anything for you not to tell them," I countered.

"If I don't call security, then I have to call maintenance. You have a doorway straight into my bedroom."

"So do you into mine! Please, I'll do anything. I-I'm trained. I can be you're own personal servant. Just please, please don't call anypony." Somehow I don't think that argument held much weight for her.

"The overmare protects," she muttered under her breath. "Look we don't have a choice."

I admit, I was crying now. Everything I had risked had just been taken away. Fortunately, she didn't see my pistol.

She turned and began to head towards the intercom. I grabbed my revolver and pointed it straight at her. She gasped as though I would actually shoot her. There was panic in her eyes.

"Why are you so against my doing this? Why don't you just go get your decommission. From what I've heard, it's just one shot and it's all over. They say it's a really peaceful way to go."

As she spoke she crept closer towards the panel.

"B-because. I'm not a stallion that's just going be put down. I'm not just going to give in and be slaughtered. You're all murderers. No stallion in those cells deserves to go that way. They're good ponies. All of them. And you and your Overmare are going to see that within a year, there's all new ponies in those cells. Ponies that deserve to see more than just a few years."

Tears were streaming down my face.

She turned and jumped towards the panel. Just before she pushed the button to call security, she paused. She probably wondered why I hadn't shot the gun. She turned and looked at me. My revolver was pressed under my chin.

She hesitated.

"Don't," I said with a sniffle.

"Why not? It's the way it is. The way it's always been."

"The moment you press that button. You strap me to that hospital bed. I'll pull this trigger before that happens. It makes no difference to me."

"Praise the Overmare," she said.

"Buck the Overmare," I replied.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her quarters door. She motioned for me to close my door. There was probably a shield that prevented it from being seen from her side, while it was closed. I slammed it shut.

I sat with my gun under my chin, staring at the door for over an hour. She never reopened it.

I had a hard time sleeping that night. Any minute I might be discovered by security. Before I fell asleep, I planned my escape. It didn't matter if I was detected, right? To get to the main doors I just needed to be quick. It was all set before I went to sleep. Day four and I would be out of the stable.

Security never came.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading my little blurb this far. I'm glad those of you who are reading like it. If you don't, why not? Leave a comment saying why.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	5. Chapter 5

I woke early the next day. My sleep had not been restful. Was security coming? Were they not? If they were, I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. If they weren't, then I had time to prepare.

I was going over the list of supplies that I would need. I didn't know what life was like outside the stable. I didn't know how much food to take, how much water, how much ammo for my gun, if I even needed my gun. Regardless. I was going to open that door and put all of this behind me.

The skeleton of Harvest was propped up against a wall in the room I had piled my supplies in. I looked at his pip-buck. If there was any way that I could get his, then I would be set. Unfortunately, the thing wouldn't even turn on. Most pip-bucks could measure overall health and condition of individual body parts. His, every time I tried to turn it on, just showed a green and red flashing outline of a pony with crossed out eyes and empty health bars.

One thing I needed to give credit to Stable-tec, the company that built stable 28, was they could build things to last. Part of of that meant pip-bucks could only be rmoved from a pony's hooves with the proper tools. As far as I'd seen, there was no pip-buck removal kit in the decades-worth of supplies Harvest had left. Go figure.

I could head to the pip-buck technician and see if I could steal one, but there was now one way out of my hideout. Talk about getting stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was able to get the pip-buck off of his hooves. I felt bad though. Hooves were bigger then a pony's legs, so to get it off, I had to break the skeleton's hooves.

Either way, a fully-operational pip-buck would be much more handy than a glorified notepad.

I'd been up for about half an hour, when I was once again, scared out of my wits. The door opened and I jumped like a cat. The pink mare was sitting there, giving me a look like I should be ashamed of something.

I sat down and met her gaze. Moments passed, she didn't say anything. Neither did I.

I soon figured out something to say. "I'm not going down on that hospital bed."

She didn't seem phased.

"Let's get a few things straight shall we?"

I nodded

"Before we do anything, why don't we get introduced. I'm Rose, Pink Rose."

Her name seemed to fit.

"I'm in gardening B and C shift. And you are?"

I shrugged, "Doesn't matter if I'm going to dead in a few hours."

She sighed. "What is your name?"

I held my head up. "UP-26. Breeder."

"That's your designation. What's your name."

Was this mare serious? She couldn't be serious.

I repeated, "UP-26. Breeder, due for decommission."

She shook her head. "I'm not calling you UP-26"

"Then close this door and forget that I exist."

We both paused.

"I didn't report you."

"What?"

That was honestly quite a surprise. Usually, mares beat up on us stallions whenever they weren't forcing us to breed. A mare helping a stallion out was unheard of. If she got found out, she'd lose food rations, receive lashings, or worse. There really wasn't much of a precinct set that I knew of.

"Yeah," she said.

"Don't you have to be on duty?"

"The transition period doesn't start for another thirty minutes, and I can skip breakfast. I've got time."

Great.

"Okay," I said.

We paused again. This was really quite an awkward conversation. She stood up and started to cross into my hideout.

"So this is where you live?" she asked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warned her.

"What?"

"Step across that door frame."

"Why?"

"Same reason I can't go into your room. Your pip-buck. Security will no doubt be scanning their maps at all times to make sure my tag doesn't appear anywhere. They'd notice if your's disappeared."

She gave me a dirty look. "Fine," she said. "You can't stay in this closet forever, you know. You're going to have to come out at some time."

"Says who?" I asked.

She growled. "Why don't you just turn yourself in? This puts pressure on me. It puts pressure on you. It's against stable customs."

"Feel this," I told her.

She reached her hoof that didn't have her pip-buck across and I told her to put it on my chest.

"As long as that's still beating, I'm going to resist the Overmare and her security. I'm going to see myself free."

Rose shook her head in disbelief. "It's hopeless you know. Ponies have resisted the Overmare before. Do you know why things are still the way they are? Because those ponies were put down."

It's true, many stallions did whatever they could to get away when the guards told them their time was up. As far as I knew though, I was the first pony to get away. That was a good sign, right?

"I'm not one of those ponies, though."

"Oh really, and what makes you so special?"

Then a saw it. I thought she seemed familiar. I gave her a wide grin.

"What?" she said.

"You're the Overmare's daughter," I told her.

"What? How could you possibly know that?"

"I serviced her. I hated every minute of it. She's a loon. You look kind of like her."

I was really good at making friends.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

I shrugged. She sighed.

"I'm not going to report you unless you decide to do something stupid."

"Fair enough. If I do something stupid, you can turn me in."

Her pip-buck beeped. "Ugh, somepony wants me at breakfast."

"Bye," I said.

The door sealed shut again. I waited for an hour or so, then stuffed my Overstallion uniform with boxes of dried food, some cans of beans, three water bottles, my ammo, and my guns. She should be gone by now. Now to make my great escape.

The door hissed open again. This time I used my magic to scramble the signal coming from my pip-buck, before I even set hoof on the other side of the frame. It showed me four levels down, and a good ways to my right. I had studied the map that I downloaded, so I knew my way around the stable. The stable was pyramidal, with the single room at the top being the entrance, and each level extending farther and farther out as the stable went deeper.

One thing I thought was odd, was that one side of the stable remained lined up with the main entrance regardless of how far down it went.

I drew my .357 almost immediately and bolted for the elevator. No time for stealth. I just hope surveillance doesn't immediately alert security to my location.

There weren't many mares in the halls, but there were a few. They panicked when they saw me and jumped out of my way as I ran past them. Good thing too. I wasn't going to be going around anypony in my mad dash for the exit.

I found the elevator that I needed. Just as I got there, the emergency sirens on the lower levels went off. The head of security came over the intercoms.

"UP-26, you have resisted decommission procedures. You have violated stable law and the Overmare's law. Please stand down immediately and prepare for immediate decommission."

Decommission my flank. Or rather, don't.

The elevator was in-use. Buck!

"Nopony move!" I yelled down the three adjacent halls to the elevator.

Seven mares were scared gutless as I stood there, pointing my gun at each of them. One tried to run around a corner. She stopped as I fired my gun straight up, which was a mistake. The bulled ricocheted and bounced around the halls. Oops.

The elevator door opened. Two maintenance mares were on board, I jumped in with them and told the elevator to go to the top floor. The elevator stopped the next level up, and I shoved them out with my magic.

A security patrol rounded a corner a few ways down the hall. "There he is!" one of them cried. "Shoot him!" cried another.

That alone was against protocol, even I knew that. Security didn't decommission breeders, medical did. Then again, I was carrying a gun.

The door closed right as a bullet from a rifle exploded behind my right ear. At least they missed.

I relaxed as the elevator traveled all the way up to the topmost level. It opened to reveal an empty room of blue-ish metal. The massive gear-door dominated the room. The yellow painted 28, clearly visible. I looked around for the console. There it was, down four steps on the same level as the door.

The huge screw to open the door hung from the ceiling.

I opened the console and clicked 'door controls,' then 'open.' The screen came up to enter the administrator pass-code. I typed it into the bar, 'CMC-BFF-4EVR.' I was about to hit the enter key, but something made me freeze. I stood there for a few moments, though it felt like hours.

There were still fifty ponies living in cells, forced to service mare after mare down here. If I opened the door and just left, then that wouldn't change. I also would likely never be able to come back even if I decided life in here was easier than life in whatever wasteland was on the other side of this door.

"BUCK!" I yelled. I hit the enter button.

A different kind of siren sounded throughout the entire vault. The head of security's voice came out of the intercom again. "UP-26! Halt! Stop what you're doing this instant!"

I crossed over to the intercom. "Buck you!" I shouted back. Then, after a brief glow of my horn, I disappeared into thin air.

The massive screw on the ceiling lowered and screwed into a hole on the door. Then it pulled back and with a deafening "HISS," the door slid to the side, revealing the outside world. All I got was a brief glimpse.

The remains of ancient skyscrapers towered above dry, poisoned land that was brown and green. One road, pockmarked with old carts and automobiles, stretched off into the horizon. High mountains could be seen in the background. The scene was stunning and beautiful, yet grim and foreboding. The skeletal buildings all that remained from an age long gone.

The stable was positioned on the side of a rise in the land, allowing it to overlook the scene.

It took my breath away, as I gazed out at the wastes from within the protection of the stable.

Security was here soon, they too gazed out into the open world. I stood silently in a corner while they worked to get the door sealed again. One of them radioed the head of security and reported that I'd escaped out of the stable.

I gazed, invisible at the metal door for a long time before heading back to Rose's room. She wasn't back from her shift yet, so I slid back into my hideaway. Only then, did I release my invisibility spell and my hold on my pip-buck.

I really hoped I made the right decision.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 complete. Wow. Honestly, I never expected it to go past the first chapter, but I am really enjoying writing this story. What do you think?**

 **Brohoof /)**


	6. Chapter 6

After talking the strange stallion in her room (no really, there actually was a strange stallion in her room), Pink Rose headed to the showers, as she does every morning, before heading to breakfast. Today, there were several mares. Some of them were getting a little touchy. Rose picked a shower head a good ways away from anypony else. They didn't seem to mind her keeping her distance.

After a short while, the lumbering, crimson hulk that was Tide came into the room. Wow, she looked mad.

"That's the fifth time this week!" she said.

Rose kept quiet, maybe if she kept her voice down, Tide wouldn't notice her. Tide usually didn't shower at the same time as Rose, due to the fact that Tide's shifts were dawn and morning.

"What's wrong?" asked a green mare in the corner.

"What's wrong!?"

Her asking that was probably a mistake.

"What's wrong is that we have extended shifts now, looking for the little banger that got away! I know exactly who he is. He's a troublemaker. Med should have called for reinforcements. You don't need to exactly be a wizard to tell that he was going to try go get loose when his decommission came. He'd gotten loose before! Stupid stallion probably climbed up some hole somewhere and died. Now we're going to be on extra shifts until we bring him in or find a body. Oh, if I find him, I'll make sure there's no body to turn in! Bucking Overmare!"

Tide's rage seemed to subside as she saw Rose.

"Hey there, sweet flank."

'Oh dear,' Rose thought to herself.

"What do you want, Tide?" There was a certain sharpness to in her tone.

"I was just going to ask if you were still going to Creamed Cake's party on Saturday."

How did Tide know about the party? It was invite only.

"From what I've heard, they're going to have a duet between Measures and Frost Beat and they've even scheduled Flashing Lights for a show to some old tunes," Tide continued.

It did sound like it was going to be fun. Besides, that was Rose's day off. She could go for an hour or so. She'd never been invited to anything like this before. Measures was a concert violist and Frost Beat was a DJ. Some of their songs could be heard over the stable broadcast sometimes. They were a surprisingly effective partnership.

Tide still wasn't done. "I even heard they might be bringing some stallions."

Rose hadn't known that. She had been planning to go to the party, but now she knew there might be a chance to meet a stallion. A real stallion, not the poor runaway in her room.

"Well to answer your question," Rose began. "I was planning on going, but now I'm having second thoughts."

"Oh, don't worry, baby, I'll make sure none the mean ol' stallions get 'cha."

Rose was infuriated. Why did Tide pick on her so much? And to reference the childhood story? The fact that then stallions were mean, violent, and animistic, was just part of an old mare's tale. She'd talked to mares whose names had come up on the breeding rotation. They all said that stallions were really nice and professional.

She quickly decided that her shower was over. She turned the water off, dried, and quickly left the showers.

"I'll see you on Saturday!" Tide called after her.

Rose dressed in her jumpsuit and headed on to breakfast. One of her friends waved to her over to their table. She joined them after grabbing a bowl of oats, and orange, and a glass of synthesized milk.

Empty Syringe was there, as well as Paperweight, Circuit Board, and Textbook. Paperweight and Textbook were schoolteachers. That pretty much sums them up.

"Hey. What's up, Rose?" Paperweight asked.

"Not much, you guys wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," Syringe said. "The science lab wanted me to tell you that there was a mutation detected that could lead to a carrot virus."

Oh, big deal. They did not call me here to talk about carrots.

"I'll keep an eye out. Was there anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," Textbook said. "Tell her, Paper."

"What? Why me?"

"Because I don't want to do it."

Rose was confused. "What's going on?"

"Your mother's days are numbered," said Syringe.

Rose rolled my eyes. Good riddance. That hag was a terrible mother, to leave a filly like her all by her self at such a young age, and an even worse Overmare.

"Good, maybe somepony can actually get this place running," Rose said.

The other ponies just looked at her and blinked. They had not expected this response.

"She was the worst mother a pony could ask for, and she and her mother have been running this place into the ground."

Ponies talked like this all the time in stable 28, maybe they were just surprised to hear talk like this from the Overmare's daughter.

"Although, what makes you three say that? Has something happened?"

The three exchanged a look.

"Last night, while the security patrols were looking for the runaway, they apparently stumbled across some of Gadget's ponies involved in illegal activity," Syringe said.

Gadget was the head of maintenance. She was the one who regulated everything from lighting, stable repairs, the reactor, anything having to do with the physical structure was Gadget's field. She and the Overmare had bucked heads before. They didn't always think on the same terms.

"What kind of illegal activity?" Rose asked.

"They didn't specify. Just said, 'Illegal activities.' Four were arrested and are being held until further notice," Paperweight said.

"Could've been anything from walking on the wrong side of the hall to being in possession of weapons," Textbook pointed out.

"If things go to Tartarus between those two, I don't know whose side I'd want to be on," Paperweight added.

"Hey, speaking of that runaway, you're in medical, Syringe, what's going to happen when he gets caught?" Rose asked.

Syringe looked up from her plate.

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, just curious."

Syringe shrugged. "I guess it depends on who catches him. Even though they're not supposed to, security will probably shoot first, chains later. Then again, if they do take him alive, I would not want to in his hooves. Security's punishments are usually the most brutal. I would say if he gets caught by medical, which is doubtful, then the whole thing would just be labeled a false-alarm and they would go forward with the decommission process."

She laughed. "Security would hate that though."

Once again, Rose rolled her eyes. She finished her meal, then headed to the gardens.

Her work was easy today. It mostly consisted of just tending the crops, as it was growing season. She still needed to be in the gardens, as it was her job. Growing season was just boring compared to harvest or planting.

Soon, something happened. The alarms went off. The red warning lights flashed, and the Head of Security began calling for UP-26 to stand down and submit for decommission. What had that stallion done?

The gardeners did as they were supposed to do, the doors were locked, and they huddled in a corner until somepony came to release them back to whatever they needed to do when the alert passed.

There was shouting and gunshots from outside the garden doors, confirming this was not a drill. Soon, another siren joined the first. Everypony was drilled on the different sounds in school. It was one of those classes that everypony thought was stupid and slept through. Thanks to that class, though, Rose knew what it meant. The main stable door had been opened.

The warning sirens ceased, when the second began. Shortly, it too stopped. It was almost three hours before security told the gardeners to return to their quarters and await the next shift-change.

* * *

 **There's chapter six. Man, I'm having a blast writing this. I surely hope you readers are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. Thank you so much for reading.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	7. Chapter 7

I sat panting on my bed. Some time had passed since I had gotten back to my room and my heart was still pounding. I could've just gone right out. I could've just left the stable and put all of this behind me.

To see the outside world was just humbling. Thoughts and questions swarmed through my mind. No, I decided. I chose to stay. That was the choice I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

I don't know how long I had been sitting there, when the door opened. I jumped, still half-expecting security. It was just Rose. She looked mad.

"That was stupid!" she chastised

"I won't be doing it again," I said with a shrug.

"Our deal this morning, was that if you did something stupid, I would turn you in."

Oh Celestia, please no.

"Wait, it wasn't that stupid if you think about it," I argued.

"Oh really? You, by yourself, shut the entire stable down for the entire shift, maybe two! Even when ponies pull emergency switches, the entire stable doesn't shut down! And You! You could have been hurt! You could have been captured!" She paused. "You could have been killed! I heard gunshots!"

I rolled my eyes. This mare was insane.

"Exactly," I said. "I was trying to get out."

That shut her up. I awaited her response.

"Why didn't you then?" she asked.

That was the question I was not sure if I was ready to tell any mare.

"I- I don't know," I lied. "Maybe I was intimidated by what I saw through the door. Maybe I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Wait, you saw outside?" she asked.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I did. I had the door opened before security got up there. It wasn't stupid after all, because now security is off my tail. They think I got away," I countered. We had moved passed that argument, but I was really not going to risk her turning me in as soon as this door closed.

"Hmmph," she said. "Fine, you got away. Now what? You're still here."

"I don't know," I told her. "Maybe when I'm ready, I'll go for real."

She shrugged.

"But you saw outside. For real. What was it like? What does post-war Equestria look like?"

"Post-war? Well, there were the ruins of a city. Skyscrapers and buildings, all hollowed out. The ground was dusty and brown. There was a crater and roads. What do you mean by post-war?"

"The Great War, you know, the whole reason we are in the stable."

I shook my head. Unfortunately, history was not a class they taught in breeder education.

"The Great War," she began, "was the result of several wars between the Kingdom of Equestria and the Zebras. Massive megaspells fell from the sky like rain and destroyed anything that centuries of friendship and harmony had built. The old capitol, Canterlot, was where the Ministries had set up to fight the zebras. I... thought that all of this was common knowledge."

"I suppose it would be, but when you're born for one purpose, you don't exactly get a chance to learn much else. You mentioned megaspells. What are those?"

"Honestly, I don't really know. In school, we were taught that they were magic spells, potions, whatever, and they were weapons made to pretty much destroy entire cities. The fear of these weapons are why the stables were built. That way, ponies would have a chance to survive the end of the world. So when they started falling, Stable-tech rounded up as many ponies as they could and shoved them into the stables."

"Was Stable-tech one of those ministries you mentioned?"

"No, Stable-tech was a business. They built the stables, with the help of the pre-war government, and they designed the pip-bucks that we wear. There were six ministries. Each one was lead by an bearer of an Element of Harmony. Let's see, there was the Ministry of Moral, the Ministry of Awesome, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Arcane Science, the Ministry of Technology, and... Oh, what was the last one? Ministry of Image! That was it."

I sat on my haunches. The world suddenly seemed a lot bigger than I had thought. All my life, I had never thought about what came before myself. I had never questioned the stable, the cells. I had seen the outside, and now I was hearing that ponies used to not live in stables at all? Until a few days ago, I had pretty much just accepted things for the way they were.

"We are in here to be the survival of the pony race after the megaspell holocaust," Rose added.

Finally there was one more thing I needed to know.

"What about the stallions before the war?"

Rose was silent.

"Were they breeders too? Were the wars fought entirely by mares and stallions just got caught in the middle? What of the zebras? Did they have males that helped in their society?"

After a few moments, Rose replied

"I don't know. There was the battle of Broken-hoof ridge where Big Macintosh, a war hero from a small town, took a bullet for the princess. I don't know if he was there as a breeder, or if he was a soldier. All I know is that he was there. I'm not a history buff. Everything I have told you is primary school knowledge. It's why we need to trust the Overmare. She will lead us on until Stable-tech retrieves us the stable."

"How do we know Stable-tech didn't go with the rest of Equestria?"

"Stable-tech made the stables, surely they built one for themselves."

I sat against the wall of my hideout and sighed. Had Stable-tech designed these stables to be like this? If so, how many stallions were enslaved in all of the other stables across the wasteland that had become of Equestria? How many stables had been made? There were so many questions. Was it worth risking the future of Equestria for the freedom of a few stallions? Any damage done to society could be permanent.

"I have a lot to think about," I told her.

"You still haven't given me a name," she said.

"I'll get back to you on that."

The door hissed closed and I sat. I sat thinking about the ponies from the past. I thought about the megaspells. I thought about the ministries. I thought about the princesses. I thought about the zebras.

After a few hours, my stomach growled, and I realized I had not eaten in a while. I grabbed a box of apple chips and a bottle of sparkle-cola. Then I looked to the mound of boxes, half of which I still hadn't gone through. It would be best to lay low for a while. After all, security thought I left. Best not give them a trail to chase anytime soon.

Every moment I waited though, was another moment that fifty breeders suffered.

I opened the box. More metal, some glue, more food.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading chapter seven. How do you like the story so far? Leave a review.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the week passed quickly and without much happening. I didn't dare go back into the stable. Rose and I talked every day, sometimes twice. To help me pass the time, she let me borrow some of the books in her room. Unfortunately they were all about botany and farming. Go figure.

There were a few strange books that seemed to portray some odd ponies. These ponies wore tight clothes and masks and would sweep in and save other ponies from bad things. They seemed to be able to do things that even skilled wizards couldn't do.

Rose had to explain the difference between a non-fiction book and a fiction book, and then novels and comic books. Who knew there were so many different kinds of books?

Anyway, I spent most of the rest of that week reading up on whatever Rose let me borrow. I didn't have any more messages from Harvest. As far as that goes, I only wished I could have talked to him, maybe gotten some advice or help. Time travel was not one of the things I could do. One thing I knew for certain, I wouldn't be able to leave this place until I found a way to get my pip-buck off.

It was Saturday. Rose had gone to breakfast and brought me a small plate of pancakes and oats.

"I don't know how much food you have in there," she said. "You're a lot thinner than you were a few days ago."

What? I was rationing. I'm not going to feast on all of my food. I don't know how long I would be in here.

"So I'm going to a party today," Rose explained.

"Cool, I hope you enjoy yourself," I responded through a mouthful of of food. Mares never brought me to any of the parties that other stallions were. Good thing too. I had never danced before in my life. I would probably wind up embarrassing myself and anypony in the room.

"I'm honestly I'm a little bit nervous."

"Why?"

"I've never been invited to anything like this before. Maybe I just shouldn't go."

"Come on, you have been working your tail off all week. Now go enjoy yourself."

"You're right. It's just that I don't know everypony that is going to be there."

"Hey, from what I've heard, you can't miss these if you get invited." I had no idea what I was talking about.

"Alright," she said as she stood up. "I'll go. You finish eating. I'll see you in a bit."

"Bye."

The door hissed shut.

After she left, I finished the meal. It was good food. Most of what I had were stale chips and packages snack foods. Still, they were better than the glop I got back in the cells. Compared to both of those, the pancakes tasted like sunshine.

Eventually I finished my meal. I had savored every bite. I picked up a book. It was something on telling cabbage apart from lettuce. Setting the book aside, I looked around my hideout. My mind went to my pip-buck. I needed to get it off.

I reached up and grabbed one of the metal boxes and opened up. I expected more of the same. My heart leaped when I saw a radio, a laser cutter, a glowing orb and a few other strange things.

I wrapped my magical aura around the orb to lift it out. Immediately my sight flashed. The next thing I knew was darkness. After that, something began to emerge from the blackness.

I was looking through the eyes of a stallion a few years older than myself. I was looking through his eyes, and was in his body, but I couldn't do anything to control his actions or his words.

"We're almost done packing," said a small green stallion.

"Good, I want as many of these filled as we can get. They might be our only hope for our future," said the pony I was in. Both of their voices were deep. I never expected anypony's voice could be so low. Then again, these were the oldest stallions I had ever seen.

The ponies were filling the boxes which I had been living off of, or at least, boxes that looked a lot like them.

A young stallion approached. He looked to be not much older than I was, maybe a year or so.

"Sorry, sir," He said. "Here's one more."

"Put it with the others."

With a nod, the stallion brought his box and placed it with the rest, then disappeared down a hallway. As he was walking away, I noticed the pistol on his waist. Not just him, though. Many of the ponies had guns.

They were working very hard, getting food, drinks, materials, whatever was in the room packaged and being sneaked out into the rest of the stable.

From somewhere, there came came gunshots. They sounded like they were a good distance away. Silence and stillness fell over the room, as somewhere beyond, they listened to a firefight. There was the constant high-pitched "peck-peck" of machine guns, and the lower "pow" of rifles. The silence in the room was deafening, as the fight dragged on for minutes. Every eye was focused on one doorway.

After a short while, the gunshots subsided. The silence grew worse. Many stallions drew their weapons.

"Get these to the safe-houses. Now!" My pony barked.

"Yes sir, Harvest!" Immediately ponies finished and began putting away what they had packed.

At that moment, the door that everypony had been looking at burst open. There were ponies there, clad in armor that looked like stable 28 security gear, but the colors were different. Instead of the red and grey, these were yellow and blue. Their faces were hidden behind tinted, bullet-proof riot masks. The ponies were armed with high-power rifles. There seemed to be only three or four of them. But it wasn't their numbers that gave them an advantage.

A massive earth-pony appeared in the doorway. It didn't have a rifle. It carried a huge mini-gun with a massive ammo supply on the pony's back. It spun up and bullets flew everywhere.

Many of the stallions in the room fled down halls or through doors. Others used their small arms to try to stop the lumbering juggernaut. Their low-caliber shots just bounced right off the thick armor of the giant. Those that tried to stand were completely shredded by the rain of lead.

My pony, who I now knew was Harvest, backed into a corner. As soon as he heard that the mini-gun was not spun up any more, he bolted across the room to where the other stallions had gone, grabbing as many of the boxes as he could. There were at least six stallions laying about the room, maybe more. It was hard to tell.

His dash was met with the rifle shots, but none hit him.

Down the hall, he hit a switch. A massive bulkhead slammed shut. The attackers weren't going to be getting through that.

Harvest soon caught up to what was left of the crowd.

"Is anypony hurt?" he asked.

"Not here, but what happened to everypony else?" said one of the other stallions.

"Dead," Harvest told them. "That's why we need to get these into the safe-houses. So we can finally surrender and end the brutal killings."

There was a moment of silence.

Harvest broke it.

"Take up what you have. This will have to do. Silver, you know the spell. Get these where they need to go." A white unicorn with a grey mane nodded.

Looking around the room, which looked like it was once used for recreation, everypony was down, hopelessness in their eyes. These were ponies that had lost. Now they were looking to face their defeat. To see what it might bring upon them. Behind their defeat, in the eyes of each pony, there remained a fire. These weren't ponies that could've been put down easily. Any one of them looked like they would be more willing to die with guns in-hoof than crawl away and hide in a hole.

Whoever had attacked them must have had powerful weapons and an entire army to even come close to defeating these ponies.

One by one, the boxes began to evaporate into thin air, as they were transported by the white unicorn's magic.

Harvest approached a terminal on the wall and began to speak.

"To those who have willingly and blatantly violated Stable-tech law and shattered the peace which has so long existed between us, we stallions of stable 28, offer an end to the conflict and an unconditional surrender into whatever..."

Suddenly, the earlier blackness returned. In a moment, I was back in my own body, laying on the floor. The pink-glowing orb was still in my magical grasp. I threw it away and backed as far away from it as I could. What was that thing, and what did I just witness.

My heart was beating rapidly and my breath was even faster. I thought about the ponies that I had seen just ripped apart. I thought about the few that had gotten away. What was that? I knew I had looked through the eyes of Overstallion Harvest. Wait, if there was an Overstallion, did that mean there was a time before Overmares? Ugh, just more questions that needed answers.

I looked to the box. There weren't any more of the orbs. I wrapped my magic around the radio. It looked cheap. There was a note scrambled on the back. The paper was rotten and the only thing that could be made out were a few scribbled numbers.

It didn't make sense. I looked the whole radio over. There was a knob on the front. I twisted the knob until the little arrow matched the first number. The radio didn't do anything.

I opened the back, maybe I could do something to fix it. Inside was engineering on a level unlike anything I had ever seen, even in the stable. There were computer chips, wires, and a large silver block. I stared at the mechanisms, not really sure what to do. Suddenly, the edges of the silver block began to pulsate a blue-ish color, and the radio began to play.

I replaced the backing and listened as beautiful, crisp, clear notes filled the room. The music was beautiful. It was slow, yet happy, and I felt good. What was this? It wasn't the stable broadcast.

I listened until the song ended. Then a masculine voice over the broadcast, for some reason, I couldn't have imagined that it was a stallion speaking.

"Goooooood morning, Children of the Wasteland! DJ-Pon3 here, your eyes and ears of the happenings across our little corner of the world. And now... the news. Just north of the little town of Crag, some poor prospector opened a can of worms that had best been left unopened. Actually the worms were snakes. That's right, a pre-war bunker was opened and it turned out to be infested with pony-sized and eating snakes. If you're in the area, be careful and be safe. On to something a little brighter, it seems the raiders in a sub-district of old Vanhoover have decided that they don't want to be raiders any more. They're looking for a place to settle down, so if your town is looking to add to the population, please contact my assistant in Tenpony tower and we will get you hooked up with an ex-raider of your very own.

"It's things like this that keep us going, ya know? Good for them for putting their days of raiding and pillaging behind them, reminding us all that tomorrow may just be a little brighter than it is today. Here's to hoping. You know who really understood a better future? Sweetie Belle. Here's one my favorites by her to hold you over until next time."

I was holding the radio in my hooves. Again, the music started up. A pure, beautiful voice sang out, accompanied by a stallion's voice. It was more beautiful than the song before. So much was being dumped onto me at once. There's a whole world out there beyond the stable to explore. This DJ-Pon3 seemed to really know what was going on. Maybe if I contacted him, he would be able to help me.

Next, I grabbed the laser-cutter. These things were usually used to cut and shape metal. Oh well. Pip-bucks were metal, right? I had spent all week looking for a way to get mine off. Now I had the chance. I held the laser up and turned it on. The bright blue glow was almost blinding in the dim light of my hideout. This was going to hurt, a lot.

Thank goodness Rose was away at her party, or she might have heard me, despite the sound-dampening spell. I looked away as the laser began to cut an even, straight line across the band of the pip-buck. I had to move it slowly, because pip-bucks were meant to last. They couldn't be ripped off easily, and they couldn't have been broken or shattered. They were tough.

After almost a minute, I heard a "clang." The pip-buck had been successfully welded off my leg and the heat had instantly cauterized the long gash in my foreleg. I would bear that scar forever, but at least I got the thing off. Now to find one of my first-aid kits so the the wound doesn't get infected. I couldn't wait to share my news with Rose after she got back.

* * *

 **Hello readers. Once again I thank you all for reading this far. What are your thoughts? I suggest reading Fallout: Equestria, which is what this is supposed to be vaguely based on.**

 **Thanks again for reading.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	9. Chapter 9

It was Saturday. That meant two things. One, it was Rose's day off. Usually on Saturdays, she would grab a book or holotape and go the commons room. Commons was where a lot of ponies spent their spare time. It was a large room with enough walking-space to allow recreation and many benches to sit on. There were speakers that played recordings of birdsong. Mothers would take their children there when they were off-duty. It was pretty much just a good place to relax and spend time.

There were trees that grew out of fenced off portions of the ground, and a small area with grass that children could play on. We were told that the trees and grass were artificial, but fillies would eat the grass and it would grow back and the trees were definitely a little bit taller now than they were a few years ago. It was one of the most peaceful places among the blandness of schedules and life in the stable.

The only negative, was that the Overmare's office overlooked it. The tinted windows prevented anypony from seeing in, but you always had the feeling that she was up there watching you. To some, that feeling may have been reassuring. They might feel protected under her watchful gaze. But if you knew her personally, the bliss was lost.

The second thing that Saturday meant, was that it was the day Creamed Cake was to have her party. That was where Rose was going to go in a short while. She didn't want to spend her whole day there, but figured it wouldn't hurt to step in for a bit.

She was nervous about the whole thing. She had never been to a party like this before. She had not been to a party at all since she was in school, and even then it was only to other fillies' birthday parties.

She ate breakfast and came back to give some to the stallion hiding in her room. He told her that she should go. It wouldn't be that bad, right? She could just go and stand around and be present until she knew what to do. Problem solved.

Once she had given the stallion something to eat and talked to him for a bit, she began to get ready. The panic started again when she was trying to decide what to wear? Was this going to be a formal party? Was she supposed to wear her working jumpsuit? Would she even need to dress up at all?

While she was going through her clothes, there was a knock at her door. When she answered, Circuit Board was standing there.

"Rose! Aren't you excited? The party starts in half an hour!"

"I wish I were, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to wear. I've never been to anything like this before."

Circuit Board shook her head. "Rose, you don't have to wear anything. When we're off-duty, we don't normally wear clothes and this isn't a fancy event. Cake's getting both Measures and Frost Beat. This party's going to be popping!"

What a relief.

"Alright then, what do we do in the mean time?"

"Since all this is new to you, why don't you just stick with me? I'm going to meet up with some of my maintenance buddies and we're all going to show up together."

"Sure, right now?"

"Yeah, I just swung by here to see if you wanted to join us. You don't need to bring anything. Creamed Cake was nice enough to say that gardeners and maintenance are the whole reason this is even happening, so we just show up."

"Okay, where is it being held again?"

"They moved it from the recreation hub to the atrium."

The atrium was the center of events in the stable. It could hold almost one-third of the entire stable population at any given time. One-half if everypony gets really close. That was where the Overmare made direct addresses, the annual Hearths Warming play was held, and other stable-wide events. Creamed Cake's parties usually were not big enough to warrant such a large space.

"Come on," Circuit Board said, "Or we'll be late."

Pink Rose and Circuit Board headed down the hall to the elevators. There were several ponies there waiting on them. Rose recognized some of them, but couldn't recall their names. Oh well, at least she wouldn't be walking in alone.

The atrium was on her residential level. It was still a good walk though. The stable was a tight space, but it was an unending maze if you didn't know your way around.

There were two security ponies standing outside the main doors. They checked a list to make sure we were clear, and we were in.

Instantly, Rose's perception of what she thought the party was going to be vanished. The place looked more like some kind of rave. Most of the room was dark. Frost Beat was spinning tunes on a mixer. There were fog machines huffing out artificial smoke to fill the room, and laser lights dancing to the music. There was plenty of food and drinks. Ponies were dancing on the dance floor, talking, laughing, sleeping? How could anypony sleep through such loud music?

Rose tried her best to stay as close to Circuit Board as she could. Unfortunately, after a few minutes, they were separated in the crowd of ponies around the dance floor. It seemed like almost everypony was having a blast.

Eventually, Rose found some friends from her shift in gardening. They were supposed to be on duty, as Saturday wasn't one of their two days off. But they were here. Clearly nopony would miss something like this, right?

After some chit-chat and mingling, Rose headed over to the refreshments table. Wow, Cake sure knew how to make life in a stable lively. There were drinks of all kinds. Some, Rose didn't even recognize. Had they been from before the Great War? They had to be hundreds of years old! Wow, no wonder there were ponies passed out.

She rejoined her friends and spent a long time just being in company and enjoying herself. She never though to check her pip-buck for the time. Some of the drinks were beginning to cloud her mind.

Shortly after she had arrived, several stallions joined the thrall of dancing mares. They had just gone around like most of the other ponies had, seemingly enjoying themselves.

For most of the party, Rose paid them no mind. It wasn't until she noticed four all sitting alone at a table a short distance away that the idea returned to her mind to go over and say "hi". The dance floor had been cleared to make room for three more males that held most of the attention in the room. Rose wanted to go and join the crowd of amazed onlookers, but feared she would lose her chance to talk to one of stallions face to face.

Due to the loud music, she couldn't hear what the four were talking about as she approached, but she could tell they were in deep conversation. They quieted up as she went closer.

Of the four, all of whom were extremely young and good looking, three of them were just a little bit smaller than herself. The fourth, a brown buck with darker spots, was absolutely huge. It looked like his chair might crush under his weight at any moment. He seemed a little intimidating.

"Hello, mind if I join you?" Rose asked as she approached.

"Can we help you with something?" one of the stallions asked.

"I'm sorry to say we've all already been reserved after the event," said another.

"No, I was just looking for some company," Rose told them.

The first stallion spoke up again. "Well there's a group of mares that seem nice." He nodded his head, gesturing towards a group of ponies at the concession stand. Tide was with them.

"Um, no thank you. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a while."

They all exchanged a nervous look.

"Pull up a seat," said the larger one. He gave her a friendly smile.

"Thanks."

She pulled up a chair, and they all sat in silence. Rose smiled nervously.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's just that... well... mares don't usually socialize with us," one of them said.

"Is it wrong?" Rose asked.

"That's not for me to decide."

Just when it seemed that another awkward silence was tog grip the group, that large buck spoke up again.

"What's your name, mare?"

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Pink Rose. I work in gardening. And yours?"

The stallions were puzzled.

"Ours? Our what?" asked another stallion.

"Your names? Do stallions really not have names?"

"No, we don't. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Not at all. It's just that... Do any of you know the stallion from earlier this week?"

"Who?" said one of them with a grin. All the other stallions gave him a look.

"You know, the one who-"

"Yes, we know who you're talking about." The stallion gestured to the other. "He was going to try to make a joke. There's only fifty of us at any given time. We all know each other. But about the one who got decommissioned, what about him?"

At that moment, a white earth pony trotted up. The way she carried herself, she was clearly in upper stable management. She looked mad. Somepony had spilled red wine all over her snow-white coat.

"Come on," she growled at one of the stallions. "We're leaving."

He climbed out of his seat and followed the mare. Any hostility in the stallion's eyes vanished as soon as he heard her voice and his duty began.

"Yes, Miss. After you, Miss."

The four remaining ponies at the table watched as the mare beat the stallion to the door, then gave him a bat in the back of the head for not getting it for her.

"Well she seemed to be in a bad mood," Rose pointed out.

"She's drunk. If you knew her, she's not in a bad mood," said one of the two remaining smaller stallions.

"You were saying something about the latest decomission?" asked the other.

"Yes. I know where he- I mean...er, I talked to him. He didn't have a name either. I wasn't sure if that was normal for stallions or if he was the exception."

"Nope, we don't have names. Just numbers. Any name we have is taken, along with our Cutie Mark, when we begin primary education."

"Wait, stallions don't just all get the same Cutie Mark?"

"No. Now you said that you talked to the latest decommission? Were you on his breeding rotation? What did he talk to you about?"

"Oh, right. No, I'm not old enough yet for breeding rotation. I talked to him before he left. You see, as far as anypony knows, he escaped. We just talked. I don't know. It didn't seem like he said anything important."

All the stallions' eyes were on her.

"Escaped? What do you mean escaped?" asked the bigger stallion.

"I mean, he somehow got a gun and made it to the top level, where there is a door, opened the door, and just walked out."

Two of the stallions looked at her in disbelief.

"He wasn't the kind of pony to just up and leave us all down here."

"Yeah, I think he'd have rather died than leave us all behind."

"I dunno, guys. Maybe he left and will be coming back. Maybe he'll come back with an army."

An army? This stallion sure looked strong, but wasn't very smart.

"Maybe," said one of the other stallions.

"Hey, Rose is it? Thanks for telling us."

"No problem."

A yellow hoof tapped on Rose's shoulder.

"Hey Rose. Glad you could make it. What to you think of the party? Pretty fun, huh?"

Creamed Cake stood there. She seemed excited. Even though she could be drinking, she was making sure everypony else had a good time. There were some good ponies in stable 28 after all.

"Yeah, this is amazing? How did you manage it?"

"I pulled a few strings. Speaking of strings, I'm going to go see if Measures is doing all right. She showed up, but was having trouble with her violin. I'll see you around."

"Okay, bye."

Rose turned back around and was about to ask another question, when she heard another voice behind her.

"H-hey there, Sweet Flank. You made it after all!"

"Buck off, Tide," Rose growled.

"Relax, I-I was just going to see if you wanted t-to try s-some of this green stuff. It's g-great."

The larger stallion stood up. Yikes, he was as big as she was.

"She said, 'Buck off.'"

Tide held her head high. She whipped out her baton and cracked him in the side of the head. The two other stallions and Rose cringed at the sound.

"Know your place, foal. T-technically, I'm on duty."

Two security ponies grabbed the stallion and dragged him away. Tide still had quite a posse though. Rose felt helpless, none of her friends were around, and the two other stallions had managed to slip away.

Tide handed her a cup of some kind of green alcohol. It smelled strong. Really strong.

* * *

 **I've said this before, but I still hope it has as much meaning. Thank you so much for reading. If you liked, leave a comment. If you didn't I don't know why you have read to chapter nine, but leave a comment telling why. I still have so much fun writing this. I wish you all well.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	10. Chapter 10

I sat, wrapping my burned foreleg with bandages from one of the first aid kits I had found. The radio played music that sometimes made me want to cry, and other times made me want to get up and dance. I relaxed.

Once I felt like my leg was wrapped enough, I cut the bandage with medical scissors, also from the fist aid kit, and listened to the music. I was free now. Actually free. Now that security had no way to track me, I could wander the entire stable. I could do whatever I want.

Right, time to formulate a plan. I needed to get the other stallions our of their cells. Something told me that was easier said than done. From the very beginning, they brainwash the stallions into unquestioned servitude to mares, and ultimately the Overmare. An armed revolt could be entirely destroyed if the younger portion of the stable's stallion population were more loyal to the Overmare than to each other. They would be the most difficult to convince.

Then there was the matter of actually arming and armed rebellion. They would need to raid the armory and would need to be in and out before the head of security or the Overmare knew what was happening. Maybe the Overmare would listen to reason, and there wouldn't need to be an armed rebellion in the first place. No shots fired, nopony gets hurt, stallions walk free, everypony wins. Those were the plans for the long-term.

I levitated the two pip-bucks in front of me. Upon comparing the two, Harvest's was actually quite different than mine. I glanced at the skeleton, propped against the wall on the other side of the door frame so Rose couldn't see him.

His pip-buck had three buttons beneath the screen. There was a little wheel at the top right. There were gauges for measuring air toxicity, temperature, and radiation levels. There were many other useful gadgets that mine didn't have.

Mine was a little smaller than his. It had scorch marks and only one button. There was a knob on the left side that changed between notes and inventory. I guessed it could tell you whatever you had in your pockets.

Harvest's pip-buck had a particular feature that caught my eye. The tracker inside it could be turned off. There was a switch on the top left side of the little supercomputer that was labelled "SEC TRACK OFF/ON." Maybe if I were able to get his pip-buck on, then I would be able to have the conveniences of having a fully-operational, yet undetectable pip-buck.

Either way it would have to wait. I wasn't in much of a rush to melt my leg to get one pip-buck off, just to put another one on.

Perhaps it's about time I explain a little bit about pip-bucks. They are little computers that ponies wear on their foreleg ankles. Most ponies' pip-bucks have an EFS, SATS, Inventory, map, personal stats, and many other little things that help out with life around the stable. There are special ponies and maintenance that keep up everypony's pip-bucks. These pip-buck technicians are the only ones that are supposed to be able to remove them. They are also the only ones that can access pip-buck programming.

For example, EFS stands for Eyes Forward Sparkle. It tells you which direction you're facing, and where ponies are. For most ponies, friendly ponies appear as yellow bars. Things like bugs, bullies, and the Overmare appear as red bars. My pip-buck didn't have an EFS. It was disabled, as well my SATS, map, and the stats setting. Again, the only operational parts of my pip-buck are the notes, jobs, and items tabs.

SATS stands for Stable-tech Assisted Targeting System. It is a spell that is built into pip-bucks and can be activated at any time. The spell allows ponies a brief pause, as it seems to stop or slow time enough that you can get a few of whatever if it you are using off in a fight. Security used the feature the most, and it made it extremely difficult to beat a security pony in a fight.

The map is exactly what it sounds like, a map that shows general information of the topography of your area. I'm not sure how it works, considering it works no matter how deep inside the stable you are.

The stats tab shows general information about your health, even going as far as to have each limb highlighted. Essentially, it will tell you if your leg is broken. Hopefully you wouldn't need a computer to tell you something like that though. It also shows how much health potions you have on you. Thank Celestia I haven't needed to use any yet. Out of all of my medical cases, I only had about a dozen health potions and four super health potions.

Stats also shows an estimation of how hungry you are and how dehydrated you are. Very helpful in an enclosed space with food and water synthesizers. Still, nothing beats good old-fashioned homemade cooking. It also tells you how long it's been since you've slept. Again, very useful in an environment that is entirely based on shifts.

Pip-bucks are a key part of life in the stable. Everypony has one. They get issued shortly after one gets their Cutie Mark and they start working a job. With that said, it's clear why one of these devices that can't be detected by security would be extremely helpful. Maybe I would put Harvest's aside until after my wound heals.

I held the two pip-bucks in my levitation field for a long while. The music was still playing.

Eventually, I reached over and turned it off. As beautiful as the music was, hours of it can get annoying. My hideout became draped in blissful silence.

My eyes fell back to the pink orb. It was still in the corner where it had rolled after I dropped it. Cautiously, I reached out and touched it with my hoof. Nothing happened. I touched it again. Still, nothing happened. Maybe it only activated with magic.

I picked it up and placed it and the radio back in the box. Then, I set the box apart from the others.

After I put it away, I opened the door into Rose's room. I would have thought she would want to talk to me the moment she got back from her party, so surely it wasn't wrong to want to stretch my legs after being cramped in that small space all week.

The moment I opened the door I regretted it.

Rose was back from the party all right. She had brought a friend too. She and a large red mare with a blue mane were all over each other in her bed. The smell of alcohol was strong in the air. I slammed the door shut and pressed my back up against it.

No no no no. She couldn't have gotten drunk. Would she have told somepony where I was? Had they seen me as I opened the door? Also, looking back, I recognized the mare she was with. She was just another thug from security. Praise the Overmare and all that.

I chewed my hooves, but they never came. Fortunately, they were too distracted with each other to notice a door materialize, open, close, and disappear again. Thank Celestia. At least, that's what I had thought.

Almost half an hour went by. I was scared stiff. I just stared at the door. If that security pony found out where I was. I would get hurt. Even worse, Rose would get hurt. I grabbed my revolver and reloaded the bullet that I had shot. I was starting to really get nervous. I pulled the hammer back and pointed it right at the door. Oh, I sure looked tough, but was I actually capable of shooting a pony if they came after me?

Thank Celestia I wasn't.

The door opened. Rose was standing there. Her cheeks were red. I don't know what she had, but the odor of liquor filled my room, when she spoke.

"Hello, I-I was just thinking you could c-come out here and help T-Tide and me with something."

I shook my head, "No, I can't come out! You're going to give me away!"

"Awe, isn't that s-sweet. Tide promises not to tell anypony, don't you T-Tide?"

Tide was laying on her side on the sheets. She grunted and tried to wave her hoof. She was so far gone, she wasn't going to remember any of this.

"I can't come out"

"It looks like you m-managed to get your p-puck-bip off. Er, p-pip-buck."

Buck!

"No, I'm not a service pony any more!"

"Y-you said that you were willing to be my personal s-servant in exchange for not t-telling anypony where you are."

My heart was beating fast. Was she bluffing?

"You never said 'yes' to that agreement."

"I n-never said 'no' either and that intercom is still there."

She began walking towards it. Surely she wasn't serious. Then again, she's drunk. I pointed my revolver at her.

"Please don't."

"Y-you're not going to shoot me. You didn't the o-other day, you won't today."

What in the name of Celestia was she on. She pushed the button on the intercom.

"Operator," it said.

My eyes were wide.

"Yes, put me th-through to security."

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes, just put me through to security."

"Please hold."

Buck, she wins.

"Fine, just hang up, don't call security. I'll do anything!"

Rose gave a devious smile.

This day went from good to terrible in all but a few seconds.

* * *

 **This story has reached ten chapters. Ten whopping chapters! Thank you everyone who reads this. I'm loving writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it. What do you think of the tenth chapter? Leave a comment.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	11. Chapter 11

I sat on my bed for I don't know how long. After what happened last night, I was furious with Rose. It looks like my old life wasn't behind me just yet. I had sneaked out of her room and back into my hideout shortly after Rose and Tide had fallen asleep. Tide, the loaf, had fallen asleep right in the middle of everything, just passed out.

That night didn't hold much sleep for me. I was so upset with Rose that I had used the laser cutter to weld a portion of the door shut so that Rose wouldn't have been able to get in. The hours slipped by. I was beginning to get bored again, so I turned on DJ-Pon3's broadcast. The music was wonderful and helped me keep my mind off of the night's events.

It definitely helped me feel better. After a while, I turned the program off and examined the radio. Again, It looked like a cheap hunk of plastic on the outside, but on the inside, there was micro-technology and engineering unlike anything in the entire stable. How had whoever packed that box gotten hold of something like this?

I set it aside and held Harvest's skull instead. Harvest had been a little bit bigger than myself, and probably a little bit smarter. As far as I knew, the strange pink orb was my only connection to him. I decided to give it another shot. Maybe the more I watched it, the more I would learn. The events repeated exactly as they had before.

I didn't understand. Who were the attackers? Why were there only stallions in the orb?

I was musing over these thoughts, when I heard a hiss. The door had tried to open. A second time. A third time. I stared at the welding job I had done. It held. Good. After a good night's sleep, maybe Rose would be sober enough to not tell anypony like she had almost done the night before. I wasn't ready to talk to her yet.

After the door ceased, the knocking began. Every few seconds, "knock knock knock." She hadn't told anypony about me. If she had, the door would have exploded as security tried to round me up. No, it was Rose, probably trying to apologize.

After several minutes. It started to get annoying. I turned the radio on again. I wasn't sure if all the turning it on and off was bad for it, but I certainly wasn't in a mood to deal with anything. I had caught the very ending of a particularly up-beat and interesting song. Then I heard DJ-Pon3's voice, addressing the ponies that lived outside.

"Gooood afternoon, Children of the Wasteland! I hope you've all been having a wonderful day, here in our little corner of the cesspool that is our world. I think it's about time for the weather report, don't you think? The forecast for the Equestrian Wasteland is... cloudy. And that's the weather.

"Have you ever felt like all you wanted to do was reach out and give somepony a great, big hug? Sure you have, I feel it between us too. Here's Sapphire Shores, wishing us all a good night and brighter tomorrow. Wow, I almost sound like I work for the Ministry of Image."

The song that began to play was unique. It started out slow, almost depressing. It sang of a dark past. As it progressed, however, it began to sing about the a hopeful future, to pick up and become more lively. It made me happy. Almost all of DJ-Pon3's music made me happy.

I continued to ignore Rose's knocking. After about an hour, I though she had given up. The knocking had stopped. It started up again though. She really wanted to talk to me. I really wanted to stretch my legs. For real this time. They were starting to get stiff.

I lifted one of my few health potions and drank the whole thing. It tasted odd. Sweet, yet bitter. Instantly, my leg began to itch as the charred skin began to grow back. I also lifted the laser cutter and re-melted the weld job. I used my magic to hold the molten metal in place, while I dumped water over it to cool it. The job would work, the door would open again, even though it wasn't as nice and neat as it was before.

I opened the door, a sharp glare on my face. Rose was sitting there. She'd been crying and she looked hungover. A look of surprise was evident on her face. I glared at her. She seemed to buckle under my gaze.

"A-are you mad?" she asked. I didn't respond.

"I am so sorry about last night. That wasn't at all what was supposed to happen."

I remained silent.

"It was Tide! She was there! She's the one who... I never should have gone to that party."

Still silence.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake, please say something!"

"You were the only mare that had never given me a reason to not trust you. I had hoped you were different."

She looked down at her hooves. "If it's worth anything, you're good wt what you used to do."

Really? She thought that would make me feel better?

I grabbed Harvest's pip-buck and one of the health potions from the Fist Aid kits. I drank it down. Almost immediately, my leg began to itch as the skin began to regrow.

I was mad, but was I mad at Rose? Looking back, I'm the one that told her she should go to the party. She had been looking for excuses not to go. Granted, they weren't because the party seemed questionable. She just wasn't sure if she would fit in there. Maybe the only pony to be mad at was myself.

It wasn't fair to take it all out on Rose. Then again, it wasn't far that stallions lived in cells until they are put down.

Rose had not said anything else. I entered her room and looked at the door controls. I pushed the lock button, which was completely useless. All Rose had to do was hit the green unlock button and she could enter my room again. Then, I started walking across her room towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To stretch my legs."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I'll be back in..."

I stopped talking as my invisibility spell came into effect. Rose just sat there. I opened her door and peered out into the hall. Nopony was around. There was a small puddle right outside Rose's door. I almost laughed as I pictured her waking up and dumping a sound asleep Tide out here in the hallway.

I didn't want to get lost. The main portion of the stable was a total maze. Fortunately, the elevator was not far. There were two mares talking to eachother waiting for the elevator to come. There was a map of the floor and a list of what was on all the different floors.

Maintenance was on the lower floors. That's where I would be heading. But first, I needed to stop by medical.

Fortunately, that was where one of the two mares were headed too, so I just got off when she did. Once there, I made my way to the administration corridor. I found the room labeled, "Male regulation." So there was a mare in charge of keeping us regulated, huh? She wasn't in her office, so I sat down in her chair and tried to access her terminal.

Buck! It required a password. I opened up the console. This was a tricky one. How did I know how to hack terminals? I had to do something when I broke out of my cell. What was I supposed to do when I found a terminal just sitting there idle.

Eventually I found the correct password. "Domination," huh. Once in, I found a record of every stallion in the stable. There were several tabs: Foals, Active, Decommissioned, Escaped. Wait, escaped? Sure enough, I wasn't the only stallion to get away. Since they began the breeding rotations, many stallions had escaped by one means or another. I was labelled as most recent. The next one before me was over a decade ago. How reassuring.

I checked the Foals tab next. They were all young ponies, still in the education program. One thing that caught my attention was the fact that there were twins, one earth pony and one unicorn, that were going to be of age next month. That would be perfect. Fifty-two ponies against the entire stable was the best odds we were ever going to get.

Unfortunately, there was another unicorn coming up before then, in about two weeks. I had always felt a little sentimental towards the pony below me. I guess I felt responsible for him, as if he were my little brother. I had always imagined us getting along if we ever met. We never did, but I wasn't going let him be killed by the mares.

A plan began to formulate within my head, if I could get UP-25 out of the stable, maybe he could get some of the ponies in the wasteland to help us. Surely there some out there that would be willing to. Maybe if he could get to DJ-Pon3, then they could strike some sort of deal.

I heard ponies coming, so I logged out of the console and left the room. Sure enough, a blue pony wearing a security badge entered the room and sat exactly where I had.

"Who's been sitting in my chair?" she asked.

I left and made my way back to the elevator. Everything was going to be just fine.

I headed for maintenance next. It was on one of the lower levels. The pip-buck technician and her apprentice were situated well out of the way and in a far corner of the stable. The technician was sound asleep, while the apprentice organized her tools. Honestly, with how indestructible a pip-buck was, business for them must always be this slow. I crept slowly by the small pony, who looked barely bigger than a filly, and opened a case of equipment. I stole the tool used to put on and remove a pip-buck.

What? I was going to return it someday.

From there, I was content to head back to Rose's room. It was nice to take a stroll through the dull, grey metal of the stable and not get shot at or chased.

Once back, Rose was still sitting in her room, there was an ice-pack on her head. It made her jump when I materialized right in front of her. She spoke first.

"I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. I shouldn't have done any of that last night." She started to cry again. "I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have..."

"Rose, I'm not mad at you. I want you to know that. Nothing that happened last night was your fault. Remember, you tried to tell me that you didn't want to go, and I made you go anyway. Yes, I have a right to be mad, but not at you. It was all my fault."

"N-no it wasn't. *sniffle.* I should have just said 'no' when Tide gave me that drink. Then none of this would have happened."

"Rose, look at me. I'm still here. You're still here. Tide is wherever Tide is. No pony got hurt. It's okay. Hey, you're still here. Shouldn't you be on duty?"

"I called in sick, so did dozens of other mares. I brought you lunch."

"Thank you, I'm starving."

* * *

 **Eleven Chapters down. What do you all think? Is this story worth eleven chapters? Leave a comment with your thoughts and thank you so much for reading.**

 **/)**


	12. Chapter 12

It was the middle of the following week. I was sitting on my flank looking over the notes in Harvest's pip-buck. I had only put it on the night before, using the tool I had stolen. I could have put it on the day I got back from that first outing, but chose not to. While I could have easily taken it off again, one just doesn't forget melting his own hoof to get one off.

I was feeling like I was growing reckless. Those first two weeks in here had gone by just fine without my ever needing to leave. In the last five days, however, I left my hideout four times. I hadn't done anything, just familiarized myself with the stable. Even though I was invisible when I went out, all it took was one slip-up and I was done for. I just needed to make sure I didn't do anything to mess up.

I was looking through Harvest's notes. I had this feeling in the back of my mind that I was prying into somepony else's business, but was it really prying if that someone is dead? It didn't matter. The most recent note was addressed to me, so I guess he half-expected me to go through them.

 **Overstallion,**

 **Congratulations on finding a means to put on my pip-buck. Assuming this ever gets read, here is some information that you might find helpful. This stable had an internal, central computer. This pip-buck is in that computer as a stallion's pip-buck. This means that this pip-buck cannot be detected by the Overmare's consoles even if the incognito mode is off. You don't need to worry about being tracked.**

 **Hope this was useful,**

 **Harvest**

That was helpful. The pip-buck had a switch at the top left labelled "Incog On/Off". I assumed it had something to do with the fact that this was an administrative pip-buck. As soon as I finished reading the note, the door opened. I thought it was peculiar. It was right in the middle of the week, so Rose was at work, and it was the middle of Rose's work day. She wouldn't be back yet.

It wasn't her standing in the doorway.

There was a mare standing there. At first, I though she was a zebra. She was a white earth-pony with grey stripes. Her mane and tail were white at the bases and gradually grew darker, with black at the tips. She wore her mane down, covering her right eye. The worst part was her uniform. It wasn't armor, but it was stable 28 security officer clothing.

My heart began to race.

"Hello," she said. Her voice was calm, intelligent, and commanding.

I immediately looked to my revolver. It was sitting on a shelf I had set up, equidistant between myself and her.

"Oh there's no need for that."

"I'm not going in without a fight." I told her.

"I'm not here to take you in."

"And why should I believe that?"

"You should believe me because if I had wanted you decommissioned, you wouldn't have lasted this long."

"Okay, then who are you? Why are you here?"

"Name's Lens Cap, Surveillance Chief. I'm the one who really runs things around here. I have both the Overmare and Gadget eating out of my hooves."

"Lens Cap, you're the one who told the security team where I was!"

"Yes, yes I did, but that was before you had caught my attention. You see, when you've seen as much as I have, a runaway male isn't particularly interesting. While it only happens about once a month, it's the same thing every month. It's trivial. But you did catch my attention. It wasn't when security didn't find you, or when you managed to make your way to the exit. No, what caught my attention was when you could have run away and put this tartarus-hole behind you, but you didn't. I'm a reasonable mare, if you had left I wouldn't have thought any less of you for it. But I know why you didn't"

"Why are you here, though?"

"Because I think I can help you. I'm sure you're aware of the delicate situation that is our stable..."

I shook my head.

"Well then, let me enlighten you. I'm the one who controls the stable. I can make anypony do anything I want. Gadget and the Overmare have been at eachother's throats for as long as anypony can remember. Recently though, they've gotten more bold against each other. You see, a few days ago, security wrongly arrested several maintenance mares without reason or warrant. Then yest-"

"If you knew it was wrong, why didn't you use your 'influence' to stop them?" She gave a dirty look at my interruption.

"I didn't think anything of it at first. The Overmare arrests ponies all the time, questions them on this and that, then lets them leave. But yesterday, a security team got trapped between two bulkheads on one of the lower levels. The Overmare declared that their release be made top priority. Gadget told her that several of her ponies on that shift had called in sick. Others had been moved to other shifts to make up for the ponies that had been arrested. She estimated several days before they could find the bug, rewire, and rebuild to get the ponies out.

"The Overmare sent security down to try to break through. It didn't work. Gadget said that if her mares were released they could be free in a matter of hours. The Overmare declined at first, but eventually saw reason. Both groups of captives were released before the next shift-change."

"What does this have to do with anything? This just sounds like an ordinary day in the stable."

"This is what it's like between myself, Gadget, and the Overmare. We've been playing this game for years. The cards have been dealt, re-dealt, and re-dealt. Then along comes you. You're brand new to the game, fresh face with a fresh hoof of cards. I think I can help you out."

"I don't need any help, thank you."

"I'm not offering. I can help you, but I need you to help me help you. You see, when you stare at the same walls for half your life, you notice things about them. There are locations on this stable that look like sealed doorways. I've looked at them up close, you can't even tell that they are there. It's only when you stand back that you see them, slight discoloration, weld marks, and any number of other things that would go unnoticed by the casual eye."

"And you want me to investigate these anomalies."

"Yep."

"If I refuse?"

"Then I'm sure you'll be able to outwit the security team that will be here within the hour."

"And I get what in return?"

"Anything you find, you can use, and I have this feeling that you're going to be doing some things, when you do, you can count on me to look the other way."

"Is there a deadline?"

"I'll worry about that, all you need to worry about is whether or not you are going to do this."

I stood for several moments, thinking about it. This mare really didn't leave me much options.

"Fine. Where do I start?"

"Might try commons, there's four in there. I'm sure you'll find it. It's the one that looks like a park."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

The door hissed shut again.

I sighed. I didn't like being used as a puppet. If what that mare said was true, then she also had me eating out of her hooves too. I needed to do what I needed to do though.

I waited an hour or so after she left, then grabbed some food, water, a Sparkle-Cola, and a health potion and my revolver in case something bad happened. Not that there's any reason something should go wrong, I just wanted to be prepared.

I found commons relatively easily. It was only two levels up from Rose's quarters and it was two stories. I stood in a corner. The room was really well-made. It looked effectively like a park were ponies could sit, relax, and spend time with their fillies. There were a few things done up to look like trees and small mound with a sign on it that read, 'don't eat the grass.'

I couldn't see Lens Cap's doorways though. I checked the map on Harvest's pip-buck. I had never checked it until right now. While the mare's pip-bucks had the facing wall acting as a boundary, Harvest's should plenty of rooms and corridors on the far side. I looked back to where the halls seemed to connect to the room. I thought maybe I could see something. If there was anything on the other side, I wouldn't be getting through by the doors.

There weren't many ponies in the room, and I sure hoped Lens Cap would keep true to her word. Like I did in my cell, I shrank myself down and jumped into an air vent. To this, I needed to drop my invisibility.

Once in the duct-work, I followed it a short ways. it quickly grew dark. Wherever this duct leads, there weren't any lights.

I found a vent into the other side, it was just black underneath. I opened the vent and dropped down, simultaneously growing back to my usual size.

My hooves pounded on metal ground, just like any stable flooring. I activated an illumination spell. My horn glowed, as did Harvest's pip-buck. It had a little light that I could turn off and on. What next, it had a built in microwave?

What I saw around me took my breath away. There was a doorway behind me, a security barricade had been set up. The ground was littered with skeletons. Dust danced in the light from my horn and pip-buck.

All of the skeletons were wearing standard-issue riot gear. In their hooves, they all still held their rifles. I stared around at them, agape. Eventually I worked up the nerve to move. I walked over to one that was nearby and touched the pip-buck on its leg. The green status page turned on. The silhouette of a pony on the status tab flashed all red. The status was labelled 'deceased.' He was a stallion named Motor Oil.

I looked around at each of the other skeletons. I checked each of their pip-bucks. They were all stallions. I was curious yet horrified at the same time. I proceeded down the hall, careful not to step on any bones.

I marked the spot on the map where I came in, and rounded a corner. I explored for a while. It seemed to be an exact mirror of the other side of the stable, where the mares were. As I crossed on particular hall, a small red dot ran along the wall and centered on my chest. Immediately, I jumped across and rolled. The air was filled with lead as the turret spat a wide spray of shots in my direction.

I gave a cry and felt a sharp pain in my rear leg. I sat upright, holding my leg out. The turret won't come after me, it's bolted to the ceiling. I looked at leg. It seemed all right. The shot hadn't broken any bones, but it was embedded in my muscle.

I reached over and grabbed a knife off of one of the skeletons and used it to pry the bullet out. To say was painful would be an understatement, but I got the bullet out, then immediately downed a health potion. The skin began to regrown almost instantly. Ew.

I proceeded to explore. This side of the stable was much more expansive than the mare's side. As I got deeper and deeper, the bodies weren't all in the halls anymore, some were in rooms. Some were alone, some were in groups. One thing I noticed, the farther away we got, the less security ponies there were, and the more civilian ponies there were.

One thing a found was an armory. A fully stocked, untouched armory with military-grade equipment. It was locked with a similar mechanism to my cell, so even though it was tough, I was able to pick it using one of my bobby pins. I know stallions don't usually wear them in their manes, but I always brought some when I went out.

I must have spend hours wandering those halls. Eventually, I found a sign that read 'Overstallion Office.' I followed the arrow all the way down a back hallway and found the door labelled, Overstallion. As I approached, the red light on the lock turned green. Must have recognized the pip-buck. I entered the room.

It was a clean office with plenty of unique oddities and ornaments. There was a semi-circle desk with a console built into it, and behind that was a wall covered in about a dozen monitors. It was an administration office. There was a locker on a dresser on the side of the room that housed a powerful-looking magical laser rifle and three cells of some kind of crystal labelled as having thirty shots each.

I sat down at the console and immediately began copying and downloading the files. Once the most recent entry had completed, I opened it up. What I saw sent shivers down my spine. While most were labelled as being made over one-hundred and fifty years ago, this one was labelled as being an entry made less than an hour ago.

 ********ERROR********

 **FJDdjfkajfjkdlfjerhJFAMdjdhna**

 **aiwp-GIVE UP STALLION-o**

 **ffka-ITS USELESS-kfjmejiaj**

 **fkldamfkkljfwapoowdcjkwaok**

 ********ERROR********

Okay, enough creepy, I hung around just long enough to download anything that may be important and left. I could've taken the rifle with me, but I knew where it was I could come back anytime I wanted to. My trip home started out as a walk, then a trot, then a gallop. It seemed like the shadows themselves were chasing me home.

I stopped caring about stepping over the bones and made a mad dash for my air duct, I felt like there were angry, demonic jaws about to bit my hooves if I slowed down. I hated feeling helpless. Without thinking, I drew my revolver and turned, I didn't see anything, but I sent three bullets sailing through the darkness. There! in the flash of my revolver, I could have sworn I saw a pony-like creature in a shadow.

I returned to my run for the vent. The feeling of pursue was still there, but whatever it was kept its distance a little more. While I was running, I lined myself up with the air duct and jumped. I had left it open, now I was thankful that I did. I cut the illumination and began to shrink, I landed with a thud inside the duct.

Quickly, I made my way back towards the light. I found myself looking into the commons room. Whatever was after me was trying to squeeze into the vent. I could hear it clawing, scraping, pulling its way through the duct.

I opened the vent and exploded out into the middle of the commons room. As eyes began to turn towards the commotion, I activated my invisibility spell before my hoof even touched the ground. I saw a shadow begin to recede back through the ducts.

I sat on a bench and caught my breath for a while, listening to the birdsong echoing through the room.

* * *

 **Hey, chapter 12 done. Who ever would have thought that this story would last twelve chapters? When I first started, I expected to be just a standalone one-shot. Thank you all so much for reading. I'm sorry about the update schedule. What do you all think? Likes? Dislikes?**

 **/)**


	13. Chapter 13

My eyes darted open as I awoke in a pool of sweat. My heart was pounding, and I was breathing heavily. How long had it been since I left the cells? Two weeks? Three? A month? Yet I still had nightmares of them coming for me in my cells. Only now, they also came for me in my hideout. I sat up, drinking centuries old Sparkle-Cola.

It was the middle of my night, and I was not fond of not getting enough sleep. Still, adrenaline pumped through my veins from the nightmare, so I imagined that I wouldn't be going back to sleep for a while.

I flipped on the radio. The music helped. I swayed in place to the beat. The only thing perhaps more beautiful than the music was perhaps pancakes. Eventually, the song came to a close. The familiar voice came on the air. Sweet Celestia! It was three AM. Did DJ-Pon3 ever sleep?

"Hellooooooo my children. How are all you doing on this fine morning? I hope all's going well out there as it is here in Tenpony. A certain heroine paid us a visit yesterday. She told my assistant to tell me to tell you to keep up the good fight. Sometimes that can be difficult. So a little news to get you started this morning. It seems the Steel Rangers, yes, they're still around, have been sighted in the ruins of the old pegasus town Cloudcrop. They're business there is beyond me but it's advisable to stay out of their way if you're in the area.

"Also, the slavers from Marebuckle have started to expand their fields. Caravans and travelers without proper documentation are advised to stay away. On to something a little brighter, a stable opened up out in the middle of nowhere. It seemed to be a good one, as they managed to fight off the raiders that beat the caravans to the location. The caravans found warm smiles and open hooves. Now ain't that just sweet. We could all use an open hoof and a friendly smile in our doom and gloom. Speaking of which, here's Sweetie Belle with Sapphire Shores singing about the best of friends with, Bloom and Zoom."

The upbeat song about an apple farmer and a scooter racer sang throughout my shelter. Pon3's broadcast always put a smile on my face. Why in Equestria would he come on the air at three in the morning? Just that thought almost made me laugh.

Time slipped by. After a few hours, Rose opened the door to say good morning. She I were growing ever closer. She apologized for perhaps the thousandth time about her little incident after the party. She also brought me some breakfast. I had spoiled my appetite on snack foods, but I still took the plate. I didn't want to be rude.

A short time after she left for work, I crept out into the stable. Quickly, I found my way to medical. I clambered back into the air ducts, and trotted along. It wasn't hard to find the cell that I was looking for. His was right next to my old cell.

The orange unicorn with a turquoise mane was leaning against the wall. In his hooves, he had a platter of the green glop that they passed off as food. The sight of it almost made me want to gag.

My horn was already glowing from the shrinking spell. I piled a second spell on top of it. I could manage, but I'd have a headache after a short while. The telekinesis came into effect.

"Hey!" I said.

The stallion looked startled. He looked around his cell.

"Is somepony there?" he asked.

"I'm in the vents," I told him. "It's a long story. Look, they're going to come for you in about thirty minutes. The mares are going to tell you that you have twenty-four hours until you are decommissioned."

"What?" he responded.

"They're going to kill you," I told him. Of course he knew that. Everypony knew that.

"I know, but..."

"If you do exactly as I say, they're not going to kill you. But you gotta do exactly as I say. Got it?" The stallion nodded. "Good. There will be a team of four to come get you. As soon as they open the door, jump onto the lead pony. I'll take care of the rest. Do you understand?"

Again, the pony nodded.

"I'll see you then," I said.

I made my way out of the cell block, and back into the medical area. I found what I was looking for. In the surgical wing, there was a refrigerator labelled "sedatives." I opened the door. No pony was around to notice. I grabbed a syringe, and took my pick of the sedatives. Surely no pony would notice it was missing, right? I mean, there were plenty. Wow, I was turning into quite a thief. I also grabbed a scalpel, a few health potions, and some rad-away.

I checked my pip-buck. Any moment now, the four ponies would make their way into the cells.

I climbed the catwalks to the highest point. Up there, was a little room. There was a ham radio, several ammo cases, and a blue mare wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and a powerful sniper rifle. She was part of the reason that getting out of the cells was so difficult.

Quietly, I cut the wire connecting the microphone to the radio. Then, I crept slowly up behind her. I dropped my invisibility spell and tapped on her left shoulder. When she turned, I jammed the syringe deep into her neck.

She cried out and drew a machete, but I shoved her forward into the wall. She tried to turn around and face my, but I flipped her over my hoof. She fell to the floor at the foot of the table. She grabbed the cord to the microphone, which fell to her on the floor.

"Help! I'm under attack!" She cried before noticing the cut wire.

I pounced onto her back and held her down. She was beginning to weaken as the sedative began to work. Her eyes closed, and eventually she fell asleep.

I felt dirty. Was that what nightkiss looked like?

No time, I stripper her of her clothes and leaned her against the wall. The team of ponies were making their way to the cell. I quickly turned invisible and headed down and joined them.

As soon as the door was open, there was a flash of orange, and the unicorn pinned the front mare to the ground. The other three drew security batons. I materialized behind all of them. All I needed was a suit and a fedora and I would have been set.

Three revolver shots and all three of them were on the ground. They weren't kill shots, but all three of them would be out of commission for a while. The unicorn knocked the lead mare out with her own baton.

"Quickly," I told him as I threw him the clothes I stole from the sniper.

"Now what?" he asked as he was getting ready. For Celestia's sake, could this pony go any slower?

"Now, run to the elevator. I'll be right behind you," I told him once he was ready.

"Where's the elevator?" He asked.

"Don't you know? You go there like twenty times a week!" I yelled at him.

"Never by myself! I always have a mare escort!"

"Fine, follow this!"

A faint flow came out of the tip of my horn as we raced through the halls, guiding the pony to the elevator. As we ran through a lounge crowded with doctors, I yelled, "Quickly! Sniper's hurt!"

We didn't stick around to see their response, but a few minutes later, the alarms went off. Orange and I found the elevator and piled in. It was a straight shot to the surface now.

"Okay, when we get to the top, there's going to be a huge door. You're going to go outside and see if you can round up some help," I told him.

"Help? Help for what?" Gah, was I this stupid when I first came out of the cells?

"I'm going to get the rest of the stallions out of the tartarus that they're in now. Go outside. There may be some good ponies out there that may help us. Try for Manehatten. There's a place called Tenpony that-"

The elevator lurched then came to a stop. We exchanged a nervous look, then I jumped and opened up a hatch at the top of the elevator. It opened and we crawled out onto the top. I closed and locked the hatch. There was still a large distance to go to the top level.

"How good are you at levitation?" I asked him.

"At what now?"

I sighed, this pony was clueless.

"Never mind. See that cable, grab it and climb like your life depends on it."

And so we began to climb out of the stable. Ha! If this pony turned out to be tyrant, oh how ironic that would be.

After a short while, the elevator fell away to the lower levels.

"So you know that stallion that replaced you?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied. "What about him?"

"Kid's a genius. In his first week, he managed to create a telekinetic field that enables us to communicate. Kind of like a magical chat room."

"Really? That's impressive."

"Yeah. It was quite a surprise though to find out that the earth ponies had a way to communicate too. They have a code that they tap on the walls. Ours is more efficient, but theirs is older."

"The earth ponies found a way to communicate before the unicorns?"

"Yup. All of them say that ponies were using it when they aged in. Could be ancient."

"Yeah."

I looked down the elevator quickly was coming back towards us.

"Sorry." I said.

For a brief moment, I held us both in mid air. Then I released the taxing magic as our weightless hooves hit the metal roof of the elevator. They didn't make a sound, which was good in case there was somepony inside. The elevator stopped three stories from the top.

I levitated Orange up to the door. There was a thin ledge where he held on. I then levitated myself to the door, where I pried it open with some tools I was carrying.

We trotted once again into the main entryway. That massive gear and the yellow twenty-eight never got old. I trotted over to the console and input the command code. Until this point it never occurred to me that they may have changed the password. Fortunately, they didn't. Curious.

As the door began to open, I emptied my pockets. I gave Up-26, or Orange, some water, some food, the health potions and rad-away that I had stolen, and the 10mm pistol and some ammo.

"You know how to use one of those, right?" I asked him.

"No, but I'm a quick learner."

We both looked out into the stunning world beyond our stable. The poisoned wasteland that was Equestria seemed to stretch on into infinity. The roads, the buildings, the sky, everything seemed unlivable. There had to be ponies out there, right? DJ-Pon3's broadcast had to come from somewhere. Oh Celestia, if Pon3 was a recording...

No. He gave current news. There were ponies out there.

I was looking at the clouds when I heard a sound the the elevator behind me. I turned invisible again.

"Go!" I shouted. There was a 'SLAP' as my hooves smacked his flank. Three security personnel emerged from the elevator. They took a few shots at the bouncing tail running down the ridge.

"That's the second one in a row," said one of the officers.

"Yes it is," said another.

They sealed the door.

I made my way back to my hideout. I was sore and tired from the running and climbing, but I felt happy. I felt like something was finally going to be done about the Overmare.

I flipped on the radio, a resounding 'POP' as the cap to another bottle of Sparkle-Cola came off. Darn stuff was good.

* * *

 **Chapter 13 completed. Thanks again for reading. Leave a comment. I love to hear from you guys.**

 **/)**


	14. Chapter 14

That feeling when you think you've done something noble, just to find out later that what you did was wrong is absolutely heartbreaking. I had a moment like that. When everything I thought was right was shattered due to unforeseen consequences.

The very day after I had helped Orange escape, I was out for a trot through the stable. I didn't do that sort of thing often, but I needed to get up and out of my hole every now and then. If I didn't my legs would get stiff and cramp.

While I was out, I stumbled across a mare who was escorting a stallion back to the cell block. I decided to follow them for a short bit, since I had never seen any stallions out of the cells. I was shocked when the stallion paused to look at a poster on the wall. The mare kept walking. They had been having a conversation, but the mare was talkative. She didn't notice that he had fallen behind.

The stallion was white. He had a bright red mane and blue hooves. He looked to be maybe an EP-20. As such, he was an earth pony, not a unicorn. Once the mare was around the corner, the stallion checked to make sure nopony was around. I only went out during working hours, and the residential halls were normally empty. There wasn't anypony in the hall.

He decided to go for a little trot himself, right down to the maintenance shafts. Why hadn't I thought of using those? He slipped into the tight corridor and crawled down to the next level below. That level was recreation. There were always ponies in recreation. Why would he want to go from a less populated area to a more populated area?

I never found out. He rounded a corner and bumped straight into a security team.

"Halt!" the large mare in front said. "What are you doing down here, stallion?"

"I-I, uh," he replied.

"Come on," said another mare. "Let's get you back up to medical." The stallion's head lowere, and his ears drooped. I sympathized with him. I had been caught outside me cell multiple times. The more it happened the more intense the punishments became. This must have been his first time out.

"Hold that thought," said a third mare, checking her pip-buck. "We're to escort you to the security office. You've been selected for decommission."

The stallion looked up in shock. "What? But I'm not a twenty-six! I'm only a-"

"Shut it!" said the lead mare. "You may not understand this, but we don't question orders. We were ordered to take you in. If you are difficult, we'll do it by force. Now come on!"

I stared, agape. The stallion simply smiled sadly and went along with security. There was no way he had aged out. Only the oldest stallions were decommissioned. I needed to find out what was going on. There was only one pony I knew who could help me.

Lens Cap was sitting at her desk in surveillance. Her monitors showed every room in which something was moving. She was using a calculator to run some numbers on something that looked way beyond me. I made her jump when I flopped from the ceiling and landed on metal food trays right behind her.

She turned around to see what had made the commotion. When she saw me laying on the floor, she jumped up and closed the door to her workspace.

Almost immediately, a pony knocked.

"Lens Cap, is everything all right in there?"

"Everything's fine!" Lens Cap replied. The pony trotted away.

Funny, her room didn't seem much bigger than mine. The only things in here were her desk, the dozens of monitors, a miniature refrigerator, the pile of trash in the back of the room, and a poster of a pink pony on the wall, glaring. The words on the poster read, ''Pinkie Pie is watching you forever.'' It made me uncomfortable.

"Hello Outcast," said Lens Cap.

"That's not my name," I told her.

"Gotta call you somethin'," she said. I grunted.

"Sparkle-Cola?" she offered.

"Sure," I replied. She opened her mini fridge, which was stocked full of Sparkle-Cola and pulled two out. She used a bottle opener shaped like a rainbow lightning bolt coming out of a cloud to pull off the caps, then gave me one.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was just out and witnessed a stallion being dragged in my security. They told him he was going to be decommissioned."

Lens Cap nodded. "I see."

"Do you know what's going on?" I said with a glare.

"As a matter of fact I do. You see, the other day you helped another stallion escape his decommission. Something like this hasn't happened in over a decade. Now as far as the Overmare knows, two have escaped in a row. That's bound to raise a few eyebrows. The Overmare believes that some sort of secret is being shared in the breeding cells. To try to stop this secret, she has ordered that the five eldest unicorns and the five eldest earth ponies be decommissioned. Hoping that the secret of escape dies with them."

"What? She can't do that! That breaks her own laws!" I exclaimed.

"She can. She's the Overmare. She can do whatever she wants. This entire stable is hers, well, almost."

"Isn't there anything you can do to stop this? After all you have all this power and influence," I said, making air quotes with my hooves.

"No. Well, yes, but this isn't my fight. I'm not going to stop it." she replied.

I was furious. "So ten innocent ponies are about to die and you aren't going to do anything about it?"

"Are you listening to me? I said I wasn't going to stop it, not that I wasn't going to do anything about it."

She was making more mad every sentence. This was beginning to get confusing and I was getting a headache. Suddenly I realized what she was talking about. "What are you...? Oh. I'm going to stop it."

"Well that depends. I know you went to the other side of the far wall. Was it worth it?"

Now she brought this up. This mare was all over the place. What did that have to do with anything?

"What?" I asked.

"Was it worth it?" she asked again.

The pieces began to fall into place. Was I really going to tell a mare what I had discovered over there even the one that pointed me to it? No. If she asked what I found I wouldn't tell her. But she didn't ask what I had found. She had asked if it was worth going."

After several moment of thinking, I replied. "Yes."

"Good, then the decommissions may yet be prevented."

There was a moment of silence.

"Was there something else?" she asked.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about this decommission order?"

"I was wondering if you were smart enough to ask about that. My bits are definitely in your corner now. There is, in fact, something else I can tell you. The ten ponies are going to be held in security until the paperwork and everything is complete. The replacements are being placed in their cells already. It takes a few hours for a single pony to be decommissioned. It'll be a few days to decommission ten. Not to mention, they need to get the equipment to security to even begin the decommission process."

"How long?" I asked.

"I would say you have about five days, give or take."

"Thank you," I replied.

Lens Cap nodded and spun around in her chair to face her monitors. I drank the rest of my Sparkle-Cola and tossed it towards the pile in the back of the room. Normally, they were addicting, but ice cold? I was amazed at how good some foods and drinks could be.

I clambered back into the ducts and made for the cell block. UP-26, I supposed that made me UP-27, had told me that there was a magical field that allowed the unicorns to communicate using simple telepathy.

I went back to my hideout and began to feel around using my magic to try to find it. It was small, hidden and only detectable if you were looking for it. Smart. I plunged my magic into the field. Three ponies were in it. The rest were most likely busy.

"Hey!" I shouted into it. It was weird to hear a response in my own head without there being another pony.

"Hello? Who is this?" a voice replied.

"I'll tell you later, but right now, there's an important question that I need your help to spread," I said.

"Not if you don't tell us who you are," said a younger voice, probably the young genius that had set this up.

"What if you didn't have to live in the cells any more?" I told them. There was silence after that.

"Spread the word, we only have a few days to act but I need to know how many ponies are willing to help," I continued.

"You still haven't told us who you are," said the first voice.

"If you don't help me, I'm dead," I told them, then pulled out of the conversation. I couldn't tell them directly who I was, I didn't know the the Overmare knew about the spell. If she did, she could be listening.

Hopefully they would spread the word. I then went back to my hideout and grabbed a bite to eat. Running all over the stable was sure to build up an appetite. I got my revolver, some ammunition, and a health potion. Thank Celestia for pockets.

I then headed back to the commons room. I was deep in though, thinking about how I was going to manage something like this. I was about go up against the Overmare. Me! I wasn't even supposed to be able to read, and here I was picking locks, working with magic, hacking consoles, and stealing weapons. Was there even a chance in Tartarus that I could win? Probably not. But it would probably be helpful to at least have an idea about what to do.

I quickly found the same vent that I had gone through earlier. I hesitated, what if whatever was chasing me was still there? No matter, I needed weapons and I wasn't going to try to steal another one from security. The mare's armory was the most secure place in the stable.

Once again, I dropped back into the dust and skeleton filled hall. It hurt just as much to see it this time as it did last time. Some of the bones were scattered in my flee. It seemed that there were only two sets of hoof-prints though, one set for when I first arrived and another for when I was running. Had my pursuer been flying? How could it have not left any hoof-prints?

Best to not dwell on it. My horn glowed once again and I held my revolver, ready just in case. The way was unobstructed. I never saw or felt anything out of the ordinary for a secret, ancient stable that was really more of a crypt now. I quickly found the armory. The sign read, "Stallion Armory 01." If there were more, that would be helpful.

The door was open from the last time I picked it. Inside I beheld precisely what I had wanted. There were rows upon rows of fully-automatic rifles, semi-automatics, bolt-action, pistols, armor, riot gear.

There were even several dozen powerful looking suits of armor that completely encased a pony. They seemed to have an internal computer. Unfortunately those computers were way beyond my expertise to hack and I would rather face Celestia than try my luck at figuring out how they worked.

The magazine was kept in a room directly adjacent to the armory. The door separating them had a massive locking mechanism that was both electrical and deadbolt. The console to release the locks was fired up. A skeleton was sitting in the chair. He had died trying to get in. I found the password on a sticky-note underneath the table. I tried not to think about how close that stallion had come.

The metal vault door opened and revealed the extensive ammo supply of the stable. Why had Stable-Tech given these ponies so much weaponry? Just another question to add to my list.

And so began the tedious process of grabbing as much equipment as I could. The next few hours were spent moving ancient weapons from the stallion's armory to the ducts above the stallion's cells.

My first trip, I felt the same dread I had felt last time I was here. Fear gripped my heart and I felt like vomiting. I was weighted down with too many weapons though. Whatever it was could do whatever it wanted. I wasn't prepared to fight it. Nothing ever happened though. The presence I felt kept its distance. The second trip it I felt curiosity. Not my own curiosity, the presence seemed curious and I felt like I was being watched. The third trip, it was gone.

By then I was beginning to grow accustomed to it. Now, with it gone, I was beginning to get nervous. Somehow, I felt like a lot of ponies were about to die, and I was the reason for it.

* * *

 **Chapter 14 is complete. Thank you for reading. Leave a comment with your thoughts.**

 **/)**


	15. Chapter 15

A few trips were all that was needed. There were enough weapons hidden throughout the stable now that I felt certain that the we would be able to hold our own against the Overmare. I needed to keep in mind that the clock was ticking.

I was tired after moving weapons by myself all day. I decided to take a trot around the dark, dusty halls again. I went back to the Overstallion's office. I sat down at the desk and activated the terminal again. The strange warning had been deleted. I opened Harvest's first log.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #1**

 **So this is my first log as an Overstallion. I just took the position this afternoon. The stable seems to be in good working order. I'm scheduled to communicate with the Overmare in the morning. I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to talk to her about. Maybe she'll know. Either way, I've never actually spoken to a mare before, so maybe it'll be exciting.**

 **End Log**

His first day, huh? I tried to imagine how old he would have been. What had happened to the Overstallion before him? He communicated with the Overmare? I thought the Overmare ran everything but it seemed like Harvest and the Overmare were equals. I continued to read the centuries-old logs.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #2**

 **Meeting with the Overmare was really quite the experience. She seemed dangerous though. I need to mind what I say around her. I get the feeling that she wouldn't hesitate to undermine me. I should be cautious around her. On a brighter note, the stable expansion team has stumbled into a cavern absolutely loaded with crystals. Even better, there doesn't seem to be a surface exit and we're far enough underground that there is minimal megaspell contamination. Things just keep getting better, I think.**

 **End Log**

I skimmed over log after log. It was mostly just things regarding this and that, settling disputes, cooperating with the Overmare, and other administrative things. After several years as Overstallion, something began to change.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #548**

 **The Overmare. This new kid has no right to be ordering me around like this. I'm not going to yield to any of her demands as long as she keeps ordering me around like some kind of animal. Also, at the security conference, the mare's security chief told ours, under the table of course, that the Overmare had ordered their arms to be tripled and ammunition to be quadrupled. She said that the mare's maintenance and engineering sectors are working around the clock to try to keep up with the Overmares's demands. Why does she need so much weaponry? If she'd planning to go to the surface, she should talk to me about it first.**

 **Supplemental: She told us to turn over all of our arms to her. Ha! If she want's our weapons, she'll have to pry them from out cold, dead bodies.**

 **End Log**

So the Overmare was replaced during Harvest's time as Overstallion. She seemed to be demanding and difficult to work with. I definitely knew what I would've done in Harvest's position. I imagined the arms race that had ensued between the stallions of the stable and the mares.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #552**

 **She attacked us yesterday. There is currently a stand off on level 7. She is attacking very aggressively and killing dozens of our ponies. Why is she attacking us? I've authorized lethal force to be used against her and her "security" enforcement. The stallions have never been bound by any means to the Overmare and now she thinks that we are? She's insane.**

 **End Log**

I read on.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #553**

 **We've pushed her out of the stallion's stable and now are fighting her on her own turf. This could be a good sign. If we can manage to take her out before this escalates further, then maybe we can restore relations. Though I will have justice for those poor ponies that died at the beginning of this... war? Is this a war? How can there be a war between stallions and mares. Either way, it looks like it could be over soon.**

 **End Log**

This was tough. I wished I had read these last time I was here. I felt the presence in the room again, though I couldn't see anything. It felt like a sad presence, regretful. It felt like it didn't do something that it should have.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #554**

 **That little twerp blew her own stable up to trap our colts. My entire security force is gone in moments. There's no way we can last now. I'm working with volunteers to try to secure the main door. On second though, if we could get the Power Armor working in the armory, then we might still stand a chance. The only problem is that everypony who knew how to use it is lying under rubble in the Overmare's stable. Oh, buck me...**

 **End Log**

I wasn't quite sure what he felt, but I had a feeling that I would know soon enough.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #556**

 **I don't know what to do. I've reported the stable failure code as ordered by Stable-Tech Directory 001. The Overmare has blocked the transmission. Even worse, she has begun butchering us by the hundreds. Unarmed, innocent stallions and she just shoots us on sight. I've begun evacuation procedures. We've managed to temporarily disable their elevator the the stable door. If Celestia is still out there, we wish for her blessing and her wrath on the Overmare. This will be my last log. If you have read these, remember the ponies who died here for the old world. We pass now into the wastes outside.**

 **End Log**

That wasn't the last log though. There was one more.

 **Personal Log: Overstallion Harvest #557**

 **She cut us off. Over a hundred ponies were trapped below. I couldn't leave knowing I had left them behind. The Overmare's gone mad. I appointed my adviser, Wingchester, to be the new Overstallion. I will not abandon the ponies trapped below. We've decided to surrender ourselves to the Overmare's mercy. Celestia buck that pony. Preparations have been made to spark a later revolt, assuming she doesn't just kill us all. Luna have mercy.**

 **End Log**

I looked up from the console. I felt like I had a better connection to Harvest now. At first I was beginning to question myself for revolting against the Overmare. Now, I knew that it was they who had violated Stable-Tech not me. I opened a drawer on the desk and found a copy of Stable-Tech bylaws and orders for the stable. I took them to look through later.

I also approached the case with the magical laser rifle that I had left last time. I found a heavy metal wrench and smashed it against the glass. It didn't break. I pulled out my revolver and fired three shots. Still nothing. Finally I submitted and tried to pick the lock. I found myself looking about the dark room. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else in here with me.

After breaking three bobby pins, I was just about to give up. The presence in the room felt helpful, then the lock seemed to just open. The glass cover lifted and the rifle and ninety shots were mine. My pip-buck labelled it as _Harvest Time_.

Speaking of my pip-buck, Rose would be back from her shift by now. She would be worried that I wasn't in my "closet," as she'd taken to calling it. I gathered up what I had found and made my way back to Rose's room. It was easier to be stealthy when you didn't feel like you were being chased by demons.

She was worried. I found her pacing back and forth in her room. I closed the door.

"Where have you been?" she asked as I shimmered into being.

"I've been out," I told her. "You were right. I don't like being holed up in there." I gestured to my hideout.

"Well... be careful. If you get caught..."

"I know," I said with a smile. She sighed. I stepped into my hideout and shed my jacket. It was definitely easier to carry stuff with pockets.

"So, how was your day?" I asked her.

"Usual. I got invited to another party next weekend, though," Rose replied.

"Fun."

"Yeah, but I don't plan on going after what happened last time."

I shrugged, "Your choice. Hey, there's something I've been meaning to ask you about."

"Yes?"

"Does the name Lens Cap mean anything to you?"

"Well, she comes up in gossip a lot. She's not very social and nopony really knows anything about her. She's secretive, but she works in security. When there's in incident in the stable, she almost always has a hoof involved. I've only ever spoken to her once or twice. So no, I don't really know her."

"Okay, just wondering."

"Why?"

I sat down on my bed and popped the cap off a Sparkle-Cola.

"Rose, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything," she said.

"Don't go in to work tomorrow. Stay in here."

"What? I can't just not go in."

"Call in sick or something, just don't go in. You've been a good friend to me. I don't want you to get hurt."

She raised an eyebrow. "What's going on? If you're doing something I want to help."

"Believe me, you already have. Just don't go in tomorrow."

I closed the door, giving me some privacy. I leaned the laser rifle against the wall and opened up the book of Stable-Tech bylaws and began to read. I also turned on Dj-Pon3 on the radio.

"Gooooood Evening, my children. I hope all of you are well. It seems we have a new friend here in the Equestrian Wasteland. A pony was seen running away from stable 28, that's right, stable 28. It seems ponies are still in there. Unfortunately, Bittsberg, where Stable 28 is located, is deep in raider territory. If our runaway can make it to The Fort just north of there, he may stand a chance. Assuming anypony is still in The Fort. Communication stopped shortly after the caravans stopped and the caravans stopped because of raiders.

"Fortunately, we have a playback of this stallion's first contact with pony kind outside the stable."

I paused and looked at the radio. It sounded crackly, like somepony was blowing on a microphone.

"Hey!" I heard Orange shout. There came sick and perverted laughter, followed by some kind of heavy weapon powering up. Then the rapid-fire machine gun began to sing. Followed by shouts of joy and delight. After a moment, a flamethrower added to the chorus.

I pictured Orange hiding behind a wall.

"I just wanted to ask if you were willing to help me!" He cried.

POP. POP. POP. The flamethrower quieted and the machine gun fell silent. The sick screams of joy were replace by fear as one by one the vile voices were put out. They swore at him violently.

"So that how this works," Orange said, once he had finished.

DJ-Pon3 came on the air again.

"Now see? When you don't help somepony, that could happen. If somepony comes to you asking for help, help them. Just help them. If we don't then the Wasteland is going to stay the Wasteland forever. Runaway, if you're hearing this, somepony out there is willing to help you. You just need to find them.

The music began again. I was glad Orange had survived the first day out of the stable. Stallions weren't smart, but some of us were quick learners. Me, on the other hoof, I was really not a smart pony. I found myself questioning my decision to go through with this rebellion. What was I supposed to do? My mane itched. It made me uncomfortable.

I read the papers from Stable-Tech. They boring and monotonous. I was an Overstallion though. It would be helpful to know what that meant.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading.**

 **/)**


	16. Chapter 16

I woke up early. I grabbed my weapons and as much first aid equipment as I could. I gave Harvest a salute, then opened the door. Rose was sound asleep. Hopefully she would listen to me and not go to the gardens today. I really didn't want her to get hurt.

Our in the hall, the area was clear. I began to head straight back to the stallion's armory. Thoughts about what I was about to do swarmed around my head. From my earliest days I was trained to do as I was told, nothing more, nothing less. I was drilled on serving mares. It was all I knew until I had gotten out of my cell.

I thought about my old pip-buck. That thing kept records of every time I spoke to a mare in the form of an audio clip as well as written dialogue. I had never been able to get my hooves on another stallion's pip-buck to compare the two.

It didn't matter, I needed to be thinking about how I was going to pull this off. Why was I thinking about pip-bucks? Pretty much the plan to make a dramatic entrance, then wait and see the Overmare's first move. I'll make it up as I go. That way it's impossible to develop a counter strategy, right?

My thoughts were interrupted as I ran into a wall. My concentration broke, as did my invisibility spell, as I fell on my flank. Looking up, it wasn't a wall. It was a hulking security mare. I had run straight into her behind. She turned and glared at me.

"Now just what are you doing down here?" she demanded.

"Uh... I... Uh..." I replied.

"He's with me," said a familiar voice. Lens Cap came around the corner.

"Do you have authorization?" the mare asked.

"You mean the checkout card? It's in my quarters. Check your pip-buck. Do you actually think I carry that around with me?"

"I see, and the clothes?"

"Everypony has their own interests. Now stay out of business that isn't yours."

I almost laughed right then, if it weren't for the giant standing over me. Lens Cap telling somepony to leave our business be? This mare clearly had no idea who she was dealing with. She checked her pip-buck.

"Alright. Checks out. You have forty-five minutes left on your queue. Get back to your quarters and have your fun, then get him up to security. I think they'll want to see him."

We went the opposite direction from the security pony. Once she was out of earshot, Lens Cap turned to face me.

"That was close. Good thing I was there," she said

"Yeah," I replied

"Why hasn't it happened yet?"

"What?"

"You know."

I rolled my eyes. "What do you think I'm doing right now?"

She shrugged. "Well if you're gonna do it, just hurry it up. The issue with the ponies in security is now down to a matter of hours."

She started to walk away. That striped mare sure had a way with dealing with ponies. "I ought to shoot you right here, right now."

"But you won't," she told me with a wink, then she rounded the corner.

"Compared to what I'm about to do, your death would go unnoticed," I called after her.

I shook my head and went the rest of the way to the stallion's armory.

Around the corner, Lens Cap pushed the button on an intercom.

"Broken Record here," a tired voice said. Lens had woken the pony up.

"Hey Rec, I was wondering if you would mind taking over the rest of shift for me. I'm feeling a little sick."

"Ugh, do I have to?"

"If you want you-know-what to stay you-know-what, then yes. Also, you owe after how much overtime I've worked compared to you."

"Fine."

"Thanks. Maybe I'll take the second half of your next shift."

The two mares hung up.

There was no trace of whatever presence had been in these halls the last few times I was here.

I geared up. _Harvest Time_ and a large rifle made a large "X" on my back. I had my trusty revolver at one hip and a striped sword that my pip-buck labelled as "Zebra saber". I wore an old riot mask with a reinforced combat helmet. There was a strong suit of armor that had a large jacket fitted over the steel pads. Surprisingly, the armor fit really well. I grabbed two SMGs and slipped them into holsters on my shoulders. The ammunition fit into belts across my chest and into the pockets.

I took a moment to examine myself in front of a mirror. My red coat and darker mane were almost completely hidden. I looked like I was ready to brave Tartarus. A small portion of my mane stuck out behind the helmet.

After folding up Harvest's stable jumpsuit, I made my way back to the mare's side of the stable.

Still invisible, I went back to the medical level. I uncloaked while I was inside the elevator and grabbed the two sub-machine guns. The door opened. Nopony was there. I shrugged and followed the path that I knew all to well back to the breeder's cells.

I passes two mares who quickly jumped out of my way. They probably assumed I was here from security. No way to tell gender behind all this armor, right? Either way, the alarms never went off.

I backed up against the wall and took a few deep breaths. This was when things changed. This was when justice was reaped. This was when the slavers were slain. This... was when I hesitated.

My heart started pounding. Was I really about to do this? All I had to do was peer through the window on the door to see the black stallion strapped to the operating table to dash all doubts in my mind.

Rage filled my vision as I burst in the door. My magic grabbed six mares and flung them against the far walls. The ponies had not been expecting me. With those six pinned, I activated the SATS function on my pip-buck. The spell came into effect and time slowed. I could see the shocked faces on each mare as I queued three burst of machine gun fire towards three of the four remaining .

"PAT! PAT! PAT!" I saw the heads explode as the shots ripped through them. These weren't doctors though, they were murders. Three bodies slumped to the floor. Two of them were headless. The fourth pony made a run for another door into the operating room. I brought both guns to bear and she fell in a bloody heap.

I then turned to the six that my spell had pinned to the wall. I raked my machine guns back and forth across the wall. The spells gave out as one by one, the mares died out. One remained. I hurled her into the corner and gave her a deep, long stare.

The yellow pony with a golden mane just stared back at me in horror, crying with big, beautiful green eyes. She was pretty, too bad she was on the medical team in charge of decommissioning this stallion.

"Stay!" I ordered her. She nodded but didn't otherwise respond. She curled up into a ball and hugged her tail.

Speaking of the stallion, I made my way to him. The equipment had been booting up, now the robotic arm holding the dreaded syringe angled and moved to less than a hoof-length from his fore hoof.

I grabbed the arm and ripped it clean off the delicate equipment.

I examined the syringe. It was long, thin tube with a tiny needle coming out of the end. Around the needle, forming a protective ring, was the black rubber that had noticed when I was first beginning my duties. I held the needle like I had conquered an arch enemy, Nightkiss.

"What happened," I asked the stallion. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack. He swallowed. His breathing was short and rapid.

"Easy, easy. Settle down. They're not going to hurt you anymore." I broke the clamps holding him down on the table. He wrapped his hooves around me, like I was some kind of saint. Tears poured from his eyes. I returned his embrace.

"Are you okay?" I check his cutie mark. EP-17.

"I- I- I left her. I just walked out," he said. "They were gonna kill me. They didn't even wait until I was twenty-six."

He hugged me again.

"Its okay," I told him. "You won't have to go back into the cells ever again."

I gave the pony a tissue and set him down next to the scared mare. Next I entered actual cell block, which had a direct entrance to this operating room. They didn't want to have to take ponies very far to decommission them.

Security always keeps five ponies stationed in the breeder's cells. Four for personnel and Sniper. There was always a sniper. Speaking of these five, they all saw me come in.

They drew their security batons. I drew my SMGs. The security ponies took a little longer to go down because of their padding. As soon as I opened fire, I felt a thud and heard a ring.

Both SMGs ran out of bullets. Instead of reloading, I grabbed my pistol and reactivated SATS. I seemed that it allowed different amounts of shot depending on what weapon you were using. Four shots later, all the security ponies were down.

I drew _Harvest Time_ and sighted in on Sniper. Another shot exploded the wall right above my head. One beam of magical energy later, and the shots stopped. As I trotted past the security ponies laying on the ground, I noticed that none had died, but all were dangerously injured.

I found the main control console on a desk in the middle of the room. There was a big red button labelled "release." I like big red buttons. I pushed the big red button.

Fifty electric doors swung open as the ponies stepped out. I teleported a large crate loaded with weapons and ammunition from where I hid them out into the open.

"Stallions of stable 28!" I began. I wasn't much for speeches. "Freedom!" I yelled.

"Freedom!" replied the chorus. All fifty ponies stormed down the stairs and grabbed their guns. Many of them, mostly the younger ones, then ran into the next room and began destroying everything they could get their hooves on. This wasn't what I had had in mind.

I climbed up on top on an unturned table and pulled out my revolver. Two shots. I had their attention.

"Stallions! Look at yourselves! Are you the animals that the mares kept locked up in cages? Prove to me that your not. Prove to the mares that your not. Prove to yourselves that your not. This isn't a mob. If we just run around and destroy the stable then there's no point. Eventually we will all be hunted down and put right back in these cells. We are going to handle this in a nice, orderly fashion. This is a revolution, not a rebellion."

"Then what do we do?" One stallion asked.

How long had the sirens been going off?

"Now we hold the medical level. Go around and take up as much supplies as you can find. Keep them in one room." I turned to the eldest-looking pony in the room. "You, pick a team out and round up supplies. The rest of you begin building barricades. There should be two main hallways. That's where the Overmare will send her ponies. Now go!"

The stallions began to distribute throughout the medical level. I found the two ponies that I had set aside earlier. The mare was still shaking, but the stallion was stroking her back, trying to comfort her.

I looked down at her. Her eyes went wide as I approached. Only then did I look about the operating room. Sweet Celestia! I just killed nine ponies in a matter of seconds!

* * *

 **Ah, I've been waiting for this portion. I hope you have too. Thanks for reading. Leave a comment with your thoughts.**

 **/)**


	17. Chapter 17

I looked around at the mess that had been made. Nine bodies were lined up against one wall of the operating room. The four security ponies and Sniper were lying on operating tables. A few stallions had taken up caring for them, with oversight from the mare that I had spared in my slaughter. I felt lightheaded. Those nine mares shouldn't have died. They didn't even know I was there.

Here's an interesting thought. Any one of them could have been my mother. All of them definitely looked old enough. I may have just killed my mother. No, it wasn't just a killing. It was murder. I may have just murdered my mother. Either way, I did murder nine ponies just because they happened to be in a room.

Apparently I had gone into a trance. I was shaken out of my thoughts as three stallions had gathered around me. Two were unicorns, one was an earth pony. One of the unicorns and earth pony were older, maybe somewhere between number 17 and number 20. The other unicorn was clearly UP-1.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked the older unicorn.

"I think he's dead," said the younger pony. I recognized his voice from when I spoke over the magical link. So much for a protege. Still, the pony's horn was big enough that it looked like he had some talent.

"If he were dead, he wouldn't be standing up," said the earth pony. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.

"I-I'm okay," I said. I really wasn't.

"Look," said the older unicorn. "If you're not, its okay. None of us know what we're doing. We've barely ever even left the cells much less know our way around." I rolled my eyes at this.

"I have. I know exactly what we're doing. Right now..." I looked towards the young unicorn. "You help me. You two go put together a team of ponies to take to the lower levels of the stable. Security is going to come from above, because that's where their headquarters is. There may be a few patrols on the lower levels and I don't want to wind up with mares in front and behind me. Understand?"

The three ponies nodded, then the other two disappeared. I took a deep breath then exhaled.

"What are we doing?" asked the young unicorn.

"I'm trying to figure out how to broadcast to the whole stable," I said as I approached the intercom. Somehow I was going to wire this through my pip-buck, into the terminal, so that I could open broadcast. Thank you stolen maintenance manual.

"Oh, I don't know anything about that," he replied. I was not in the mood to be arguing. "I'll do what I can," he said when he saw my glare.

A few minutes later we got lucky. The terminal lit up and I could speak through the intercom's mic into every speaker in the stable. I smiled at my fortune.

"Hellooooooo Ponies of stable 28!" I hollered into the mic. Every stallion's eyes were on me. "I'm Baaaack, and I do not appreciated the way you all have been treating the stallions lately. So as of this moment, I, Overstallion of stable 28, do declare all stallions inside the stable clear of all binds to the Overmare. The stallion's are no longer bound to any servitude towards any mares. We will be leaving momentarily, by lethal force if necessary. Please return to your quarters if you are not going to fight. Thank you."

The stallions cheered.

"Oh, and Overmare, if you are hearing this, what do you have to say for yourself?"

I awaited the response. A second voice came over the intercom. It wasn't the Overmare.

"This is the chief of security. UP-26, you are in direct violation of Stable-Tech law and the Overmare's dictation. You are to be immediately apprehended and put on trial for disturbing the peace then decommissioned. You can come willingly or by force."

Funny, I had helped that other unicorn escape. I guess I wasn't UP-26 any more. I was UP-27.

I motioned for the next oldest pony to come over. If the Overmare wouldn't communicate with me directly, then I wouldn't be conducting business with the second-in-command. The green buck looked at me. I gestured to the mic.

"What do I say?" he asked.

"Just get the Overmare on the line, if you can," I told him. He gave me a smile.

"Um, yes. My designation is EP-20. The Overstallion will only be speaking with the Overmare. So if you could just give her a call and..." he said. He was cut off as the line closed.

As if on queue, the doors to the stairway leading into the main hallways in the medical level blew open. The stallions had locked them in a futile attempt to keep the mares out. Five security mares with riot shields formed two ranks. They were banging on their riot shields with batons. Row upon row of armed security ponies followed them into the grey, steel hallway.

The stallions had upturned several tables, chairs, desks, and other improvised fortifications, expecting the Overmare to try something like this. They began firing rifles, pistols, machine guns, anything they had into the approaching hoard. None of their shots made so much as a chip in the reinforced riot shields.

I made a dash for a table and pulled out my laser rifle. One shot. A mare disintegrated into a pile of ash. That explained what happened to Snipers forehoof. A clear shield doesn't do a whole lot to protect from light. I didn't fire a second time. I just stared, agape. So that was ten. The first nine were murders, the tenth left not even a body. What kind of pony was I?

Before long, it looked like they would overtake the stallion's fortifications and the revolution would be short lived. One stallion, however had grabbed Sniper's sniper rifle. He was in the back of a room, well behind the heat. With a roar, the rifle went off. The ponies watched as the bullet tore through one of the riot shields and four ponies behind it, leaving a hole in the ranks.

For a brief moment, the stallions concentrated their fire towards the opening. The ranks tightened and kept coming. Another shot resulted in more mares going down. Two shielded ponies remained. At this rate, they were going to be chewed up by the dozen angry, trigger-happy stallions defending the hallway.

The mares began to retreat. Honestly, when was the last time security had to actually do anything. Ponies didn't just attack one another inside the stable, and up until now, nopony had ever denied the Overmare. These were trained, yet inexperienced professionals fighting escaped slaves. Some war this was.

A third shot from the sniper brought even more mares to the ground. Several had fallen to the stallions flurry of lead. The stallions then began to pursue, chasing them into the the stairwell and up to the next level. They got pinned by automatic turrets that had been set up and decided that it wasn't worth risking.

They returned to where the other stallions had set up shop and began dragging the downed mares into the clinic.

"Nice aim, Hot Shot," one stallion said to the stallion's sniper.

Meanwhile, in the security center, Broken Record sat at her monitors, half asleep. She wasn't paying attention to what was on them, she was just there. Her job description said to watch the monitors, not care about what was on them. A ruckus was heard outside her door.

"I have had enough of that mare! She should have seen this coming and reported it! We could have stopped this whole incident!" cried an angry mare.

"You can't do this! You just can't do this!" protested another.

"This should have been done a long time ago!" said the first.

The door opened and and an angry security officer carried an automatic pistol.

"Whoa!" Cried Broken Record as she turned and saw the pony enter her room. Without thinking, the angry mare shot her gun at the pony in the seat, blowing her brains out.

"Buck! It's not her! Get somepony competent in here, and if you see that witch, bring her to me. I want to take care of her myself!"

The angry pony, who was usually quite docile and blue, was now raging and she looked more of a red color. She left Record's body just hanging in the chair.

Back in medical, I personally went to where the stallions had round all of the doctors up and sat them all in one room. Three bucks armed with semiautomatic rifles were guarding them. I motioned for the guards to leave.

The doctors were scared. The were a few dozen of them. Each was shaking and looked at me like I was about to murder them. A few hours ago, I might have. Then again, I did.

"Ponies have been hurt," I told them. "You are the only ponies in this entire stable that can help them. So I'm going to give you a choice. You can either save the injured ponies, or you can go to your quarters like the rest of the stable. Understand?"

There was no response from any of them.

"I'm not going to hurt you unless you give me one darn good reason to. If you don't want to help anypony and you don't want to go back to your quarters, you can sit here and sniffle like fillies, you're out of the way and doing no harm, but no good either. Your choice."

An older mare stood up. "Why should we believe you? How do we know you're not going to take us to some back room and eat us?"

"Believe me, if I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead." Wow, I sounded like Lens Cap. The mares began exchanging nervous glances.

One, a blue pony with a syringe for a cutie mark stood above the crowd.

"I'll help," she said. "If somepony is hurt, then it's my job to help them. If you kill me or do something horrible to me, then it makes no difference."

Gradually, more and more of the doctors began to stand. Some still didn't though. I led them to the clinic where the injured mares were being kept. They immediately rushed to the fallen ponies' aid. The other mares were allowed to return to their quarters via the stairs. The elevators were out-of-commission due to stallion sabotage.

And so, the rest of the day resulted in a standoff. The mares didn't come back down and the stallions didn't go back up. The doctors treated the injured security ponies and the stallions cleaned the place up.

As the hours went by, we still only had the food from the breeder's dispensers. Oh, how I wanted a Sparkle-Cola, Fancy Pants Pancakes, or even some apple chips. The familiar taste of the green glop was absolutely terrible and brought back many unpleasant memories.

As the twelfth hour of the impasse approached, the lights began to go dark. Emergency lighting kicked in and the constant, distant hum of the generators died. I went back to the intercom on the wall.

"Overmare, it seems you and I both have a problem. You see, we can't leave with your guns pointed at us and if something doesn't happen soon, then the stable is going to lose power."

A moment later, the security chief came over the line again.

"UP-26, you will surrender yourself and your weapons and your stallions or face the wrath of the Overmare."

Wow, she equated the stallions with guns? She called them my stallions. Either she considered me Overstallion in saying that these were my ponies, as in no longer the Overmare's, or she thought that I was her only opponent and considered the stallions my property.

Either way, I motioned the green buck over again.

"We need the lights on. Talk to the nice mare."

"Hello, Chief? This is EP-20 again. We need lights, so maybe we can come to an agreement."

"Where's UP-26? I will only speak with him."

"The Overstallion is indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"You can tell him to-" She was silenced as Green turned the volume all the way down and glanced around the room smiling. Her tone was reason enough to tell that she was about to say something vulgar. After a few seconds, he turned it back up again.

"... -itch! And that his motherfu-..." He turned her down again and waited again.

"Did you get all that?" he asked with a smile as he turned her back up again. I nodded with a chuckle.

"Duly noted. Now, about restoring power..."

I stepped back out into the hall. The ponies were starting to get tired. I needed to set up a watch list so that some ponies slept while others kept guard. A back stairwell opened, one that only led down, and six bucks trotted in, carrying four security ponies by their tails, all unconscious. I gave a slight smile.

"Bottom levels clear, sir," said one of the two stallions that I had ordered to go down.

"Good work," I told him. The others stripped the security ponies of their gear and took them to the clinic. Good thing we were fighting from inside a hospital. I decided to go down myself, if the coast was clear. Rose's room was two levels down.

I got to the room without any problems. The door was locked. It wouldn't open like it normally would. There wasn't even a lock to pick. I looked at the door controls. Lockdown. I attached my pip-buck and the door opened with an administrator override.

Rose was gone. Her pink room was a mess. I sighed. She had gone in to work. Now, I had no idea where she was. Still, I went into my hideout and grabbed a few things. One of them was the radio.

I went back out into the hall. A red line appeared on my EFS, followed by several more. I turned just in time to see a double-barreled shotgun pointed right between my eyes. I didn't have my helmet on, I had left it upstairs. Somehow I doubted even it could stop a twelve gauge at this range.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading. Leave a comment with your thoughts.**

 **/)**


	18. Chapter 18

Pink Rose slept late. She had decided that she could skip the day of work. It's not like she would make a habit of not going to work. Besides, that stallion had never once asked anything of her in all of his time being there. She still felt bad about the wrong that she had dealt him. The least she could do was heed his one request.

It felt good to wake up naturally versus to the beeping alarm clock. Yet as she ate breakfast in her room, a sudden alarm went off. The lights flashed as emergency protocols went into effect. Her door slammed shut and sealed. The door controls turned red as the lock-down began.

Panic began to set in, despite the voice over the intercom announcing that everything was under control. Rose tried to open the door, but to no avail. She didn't know the override code. Looking around the room, there didn't seem a whole lot that could be done.

She opened the door to try to talk to the stallion. Maybe he could help calm her down. The door to his little hole was on a different security system than the rest of the stable and was therefore unaffected by the lock-down. When the door opened, the stallion wasn't there.

The panic began to rise again. Rose closed the door to his hole, which promptly disappeared. She wasn't a smart pony. There nothing that she could do.

After a short while, the lock-down on her door turned green and it opened. Circuit Board stood there in her maintenance uniform. She had used her tools and her pip-buck to bypass the electric lock.

"Are you okay?" Circuit Board asked.

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Rose replied.

"Everything," said the dark blue earth pony as she began running her hooves along the walls of Rose's cell.

"I don't understand," Rose said with a curious look.

"The stable's falling apart."

"Well I know that. It's been falling apart for years."

"Yeah? Well now is the time that everything collapses. Buck, where is it?" Circuit said.

"Where is what? Aren't you supposed to be somewhere for the lock-down?"

"I'm looking for something. Anything. I know you know something. You've been spending an awful lot of time in your quarters lately, even for you. On top of that, you are the only mare on your shift who knew to stay in here when stuff began to go down. This can't be coincidence."

"It sounds like one to me. What's going on?"

"That buck is back. The buck you kept asking about. Now ponies are dead. You're safely out of the way. Were you harboring him?"

"What? Security checked my room, just like they checked every room looking for him! Are you suspecting me of treason?"

"Did you commit treason? 'Cause I am right now. Look, if you did something you weren't supposed to, its okay. It doesn't matter until security gets down here. When they find you not at your post, they'll take you in. The stable is in a state of emergency and everything is going wrong."

"I... what?"

"You know what, forget it. Come with me and you may live through this. Stay here and you'll wind up locked in a jail cell in security or worse. I came here to get you, to see if you were okay. Also, the fact that you were here proves my suspicions further."

At this moment, there was an explosion from somewhere in the hall. Gunfire erupted as a firefight began.

"Come on!" Circuit cried. She led Rose out into the hall and away from the fighting. Every room had been sealed by the emergency lock-down sequence. Even Rose's door resealed minutes after they left.

"What was that gunfire?" Rose asked as Circuit Board led her on.

"That may have been stallions, may have been maintenance."

"Stallions?"

"Yep, I told you that that buck is back. Well, the stallions are revolting against the Overmare. So is Maintenance. It's complicated."

When they arrived at the stairs, Circuit Board turned and looked Rose before going any further.

"Do you sympathize with the Overmare in any way?"

"What?"

"I can't take you if I think that you may compromise us. So I ask again. Are you with the Overmare."

"I... I... No, I'm not."

"You hesitated."

"I just got dragged out of my room into a stable that is completely filled with ponies trying to kill each other! Of course I hesitated!"

A small group of security ponies rounded a corner down that hall.

"Halt!" cried the lead mare. As they approached, they were pounced on by some ponies that were hidden in a hallway. Hoof-to-hoof fighting broke out.

"We gotta go!" Circuit Board said again. They went down into the bowels of the stable. It was weird taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It actually showed some perspective as to just how deep this place went. Some of the levels had lights out, while others had the lights turned up so high it was hard to see.

Rose decided to stop asking questions. This was really not a good time to be out in the stable.

"If security asks," Circuit began, "I was on my way to my quarters when I got lost. You got turned around after being trapped in an elevator. We decided to go together because two heads are better than one when it comes to solving problems. Okay?"

Rose nodded. They still went deeper. When they arrived at the first maintenance level, Circuit again bypasses a lock-down sequence that had been activated on the mechanical door. With a hiss, it opened. Circuit led once again through massive rooms and hallways, over catwalks, and into some corner. It seemed like they were going in circles, even with the map aid on Rose's pip-buck.

Then, in the middle of a hallway, circuit pressed her hoof against the wall. The wall glowed as it scanned her hoof, then a hole in the side of the wall appeared. Circuit led Rose into the hole and down into a scantily lit tunnel. The hole resealed behind her.

The stone was cold under her hooves. It surprised Rose how different it felt. At the end of the dim passageway, there was another door. This one looked like the door to a pony sized safe. Circuit twisted the lock and the door gave way into a large room.

It was a massive main foyer with dozens of doors doing off in several directions. The room was long and there were two floors. The second story overlooked the first with railings running the distance of the room. A catwalk connected the two sides. Rose stood agape at how new and clean everything looked. The walls were polished white, the floor was neatly cleaned. Centuries of messes and stains had not tainted this place at all. Then again, leave it to maintenance to have a hidden stable within a stable.

"Welcome to Stable 28 Mark II," said Circuit Board.

"What is this? How long has this been here?" Rose asked.

Circuit Board chuckled, "This has been in development for years. Two generations now, I believe." Rose just looked in awe at how nice everything seemed. The ponies here smiled and laughed, unlike in the actual stable.

"Just about everypony in here is in maintenance. We've built this to get away from the Overmare if we ever need to. If she or her security guards try to get in, then they'd get blasted in the hallway we just came through. Probably not a good idea to make enemies of the ponies that make your guns. Not to mention the polymetallic compound used in the door is pretty much blast proof. But we have a problem... like I said, just about everypony in here is maintenance. We have a garden, but don't really know how to use it."

"So that's why you brought me here? I mean, I know how to work a field, but I'm not the best at it. You should try Thistle or Fern. They could get anything to grow."

"Hey!" came a voice from across the room. A brown earth pony with a grey mane trotted over. "Who are you? Circuit, what have you done? Explain yourself!"

"Gadget, ma'am, I was just making sure my friend was safe. She wasn't when I found her so I brought her here. She's a gardener. You know we need a gardener."

The older brown mare sighed. "Very well. If you trust her, than she can stay." Then she looked towards Rose. "Forgive my suspicion, but if you give us any reason to suspect you might have anything to do with the Overmare, then I assure you, your stay here will not be comfortable."

"Understood," Rose replied.

"Very good. If you'll come with me, then I'll show you to your gardens and your quarters."

"Wait, quarters? You mean I'm staying here?"

"Of course," said Gadget. "We can't go back into the main stable until the Overmare is displaced. When that happens, we will decide whether or not to work with whoever replaces her. Also, if somepony managed to get get themselves caught, we can't have her suspecting where we are."

"But what about the other ponies? What about the medical ponies? The sanitation ponies? The stallions?" Rose inquired

"Well, let's just say I wouldn't want to be them, and the stallions best fight like Tartarus if they want to see next week. I give them six hours before they're put down,"  
Gadget said.

"But we're not going to do nothing, right ma'am?" added Circuit.

"Oh heavens no. We're going to do our best to keep the pressure on the Overmare. The only reason that noncombatants are staying in here is so that they stay our of the way. The stable is now a war zone. We had best remember that."

Rose looked down at her hooves.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Circuit Board.

Rose nodded. "Can I talk to both of you in private after the tour?"

"Of course," said Gadget.

"Don't worry, Rose. These are good ponies. We're the good guys," Said Circuit as she and Rose followed Gadget to the Gardens.

Speaking of, the gardens were definitely better equipped than the gardens in the main stable. They were bigger, had a more efficient irrigation system, and even had more types of foods. Apparently, they had partnered with a few science ponies. How corrupt was the stable?

After seeing the gardens, the lounge, a small fitness center, and her room, the three ponies went to Gadget's personal office and closed the door.

"Was there something you wanted to say?" Gadget asked.

"Actually two things. One, you know I'm the Overmare's daughter, right?" Circuit Board looked a little uneasy that Rose had revealed that so quickly.

"Yes, I suspected it. You have her nose. Also, Circuit Boards said that she and the Overmare's daughter were friends. And the other thing?"

"Well, I... Do you know what that stallion is doing with the whole stallion uprising?" Rose asked.

"He's leading it. He's the one that started it," Gadget said. Not even Circuit had known that, judging by the look on her face.

"Oh..." Rose replied.

"Why? Does it matter?" asked Gadget.

"It's just that... Ah... I think that might be partly my fault."

"Oh?" Gadget raised an eyebrow. Circuit looked like she was listening intently.

"Yeah, I kind of maybe, kept him in my quarters. I had no idea he was planning to kill ponies! Honest! If I had known he would have done this, then I wouldn't have hesitated to turn him in! I hid him! I protected him! You should have seen the scared little pony that opened that door! He's a good pony. Why did he have to be a killer? He doesn't seem like one!"

Circuit Board and Gadget exchanged a look. Rose was in tears, weeping into her hoof.

"Rose, if there's one thing this experience has shown us, it's that war... war never changes. That's what this is. It's war now. It's us versus the Ovemare. That stallion has most likely signed his own death warrant by starting his little coup. That was his decision to make. Change happens, it happens quickest through fighting. Whoever winds up on top gets to decide what change happens or doesn't."

"Yeah," added Circuit Board. "Besides, we wouldn't have done all this if it weren't for the stallions."

Gadget nodded. "The fire has been built for years. The stallions just happened to be the spark. Don't worry about a thing, just get some rest. Tomorrow you can begin your work. A few mares will be down there to help you and learn from you. Leave the rest to us. You're safe now."

* * *

 **So we finally meet Gadget. What do you think of her? Thanks for reading.**

 **/)**


	19. Chapter 19

It's funny. That feeling of whether or not what you are doing is right. It can cause you to hesitate. It can cause you to rethink things. This mare that I faced, who had her shotgun pointed right between my eyes didn't look like a soldier. She didn't look like she was in security. This was a non-combatant that my little revolt had forced to take up arms to defend herself. At least, that's what I thought.

"Hello," I told her.

"You're coming with us," she said, "One way or another." That was all she said. We stood there for a moment in silence. I had no intention of going anywhere while held at gunpoint by a mare.

"Excuse me for a second," I said. I trotted about three steps out of the way and set my radio down so that it wouldn't get damaged. Then, I came right back to the mare. "What was that you said?" I asked her.

"You're coming with us." Us? I didn't see an us. All I saw was the one pony.

"How about no," I said. I twisted my hoof around and smacked the shotgun barrel away from my head. The double barrels fired, riddling the wall behind my head with dozens of holes. The blast also hurt my ear, making it ring so bad that I couldn't hear out of my left side. At least my head wasn't soup.

Still, after coming that close, I drew my revolver and pressed it against the mare's stomach. I pulled the trigger three times. Shock was written all over her face. Close quarters were good for shotguns, but too close and they were moot.

She slumped to the ground in a bloody heap. I heard two other sets of hooves running away down the hall. Must have been invisible unicorns. Of course, what idiot would wander the stable all by themselves at a time like this? Oh yeah, me.

Once I was sure that the area was safe, I holstered my pistol, and took the twelve-gauge away from the injured mare. She was bleeding bad. A red pool was beginning to form around her, running off into the gutters at the sides of the hall.

I sat down beside her. She was a pretty purple mare with a pink, almost red mane. Blood was spilling out of her mouth.

"So, what made you think that I would just go with you?" I asked. The dying mare just stared at me with big, fearing eyes. She knew she didn't have long, and she knew that she had made a mistake. I sighed and produced a healing potion. The purple, milky liquid sloshed in the little container. It was cruel, I know, teasing her like this, but I had no intention of just letting this poor mare die right in front of me. She saw the potion and her eyes went wider.

"This can save you, at least long enough to get you up to medical. If you do exactly as I say, we can get you up there. But you need to do exactly as I say, got it?" The purple earth pony nodded. I poured the health potion down her throat. The wounds began to heal, but the bullets hadn't come out of the other side of her abdomen. She would need surgery to get them out.

After a moment, the bad bleeding stopped. The mare coughed up a little bit more blood. I gave her some water, and I supported her as we made our way back to the stairs, the radio in my hoof. I decided to question her as soon as she was in a little better condition.

Once we were back in at the stairs, the lights in the level went out as the entire place lost power. The generators weren't functioning as they had mere hours before. Instead of the constant hum, they sounded more like a gurgle that fluctuated. Unfortunately, magical energy reactors were beyond anything a stallion could handle.

I helped the mare up the stairs, and back to the medical level. As soon as we arrived, two nurses and a stallion helped the mare over to another group of wounded ponies. I made my way back into the operating room that had sort of become our headquarters. The green stallion that had been using the terminal approached me.

"Security has agreed to an exchange. They have ponies that can get down to the generators and keep them running. The Security Chief will be present to oversee the exchange only if you go to oversee it as well," he informed me.

"Thank you, EP-19," I told him. He nodded. At that moment, a dark blue buck trotted up to me. He had reddish, purple eyes and a lighter blue mane. His cutie mark showed him to be EP-14.

"Mr. Overstallion, sir?" the buck said.

"Yes?" I replied.

"T-there's something I'd like to talk to you about, if I can."

"What is it?"

"Can we get somewhere a little more private?" I nodded and we left the operating room and headed down the hall. There was a consultation room with a lock. That should suffice. Myself and EP-14 entered the room and locked the door.

"I something wrong?" I asked him.

"Well, its just that..." he trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Some of us... We want to know when the breeding queue will start back up." Wait, what? This stallion wants to know what? Why would he want to know when the breeding queue starts? I stared at him, the shock eminent on my face.

"Its just that..." he continued. "You're supposed to be decommissioned, but you're not, but you're supposed to be. Why are you not decommissioned?"

"Do you know what decommission means?" I asked him. He nodded.

"I know about the shot. Its just that... Ugh, why is this so hard to say?"

"You don't want to fight any more. Not for your freedom, not for the freedom of your sons. You would rather go back into your cell than fight." He gave a slight nod. My hoof slammed into my face. How? Why? Isn't death better than rape and death? How could this pony want to simply give up?

"In the cells, we had all the mare we could want, three meals a day..."

"Are there other stallion that want to go back too?" Again, he nodded. I looked down at my hooves. Honestly, I felt betrayed. I felt sad. "There is no pony holding you back. You can go back into the cells, if you want. Round up all the ponies that want to and just do it. Just know that you can't be making a difference inside there."

"Thank you," he said. He unlocked the door, and disappeared down the hall. I was trying to fight an entire stable of close to a thousand ponies with forty uneducated, untrained, inexperienced stallions. Now I had less than that. Sweet Celestia, its like the very structure doesn't want me to win. Well, it did shelter me for a few weeks.

I grabbed my radio and found the office that the stallion regulator had been in. I sat in her chair, like I had last time. It was one of those fun, spinney chairs. When I had an Overstallion office, I would have a spinney chair.

I set the radio on the desk and turned it on. The familiar music played, helping me feel relaxed. I closed my eyes. It was then that I realized just how long of a day this had been. Had I really woken up a few hours in a peaceful, but tyrannical stable? It felt like an entirely different world now. I had almost fallen asleep, when I heard the voice of DJ-Pon3.

"Goooood Evening, my little ponies of the Wasteland. I hope you've all had a wonderful day, here in our little corner of the world. Life in the Wastes is hard enough as it is, without ponies trying to tear each other of pieces. Not to name names or anything but..." the pony coughed. Although it sounded a lot like the word "Razors." Probably some gang out in the Wasteland somewhere. "Anyway, time for a little weather update for all you lovely ponies out there. Let's see... Manehatten: cloudy, Canterlot: pink fog, Ponyville: Cloudy, Fillydelphia: cloudy. Oh, here's something: Hoofington, Rainy. Wouldn't you know it? Hey, if there are any pegasi out there, we would certainly like to see the sun. Maybe that's all somepony needs to make their day a little brighter, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

"Now, on to the news. I know you've all been waiting to hear about that pony who was going around promising food to everypony she met around Junction, well, she wound up dead in a gutter, so that's probably not going to happen. Meanwhile, in Bittsberg, the raiders have been trying everything they can to clear out a group of ponies that have been killing them off. That's right, Bit might soon be hospitable again. In fact, The fort is still there! Ten years of raiders and the Fort is holding strong! When some ponies have drive, sometimes not even an army can stop them.

"Communication was lost due in part to the fact that their transmitter was damaged. I know full well how difficult that can be to fix, especially when you don't have the parts. Well they have parts now, and here's what they have to say..." A second voice, this one a mare, was heard.

"This is the Fort of Bittsberg. We've been under siege for far too long. Twilight Highway is now clear for the caravans to start up again. Please, if anypony is out there, we could definitely use some trade. Thank you."

"Well how about that?" Dj-Pon3 started again. "Here's the best part, guess who it was that cleared the Twilight Highway? That's right, our Runaway himself. It seems he's racking up quite the tally as far as raiders go. It also seems he's got a friend with him now. Seems like somepony decided to help him out. Good for him. I hope you've all learned a valuable lesson from this story. Be Helpful. Hey, that reminds me of a funny song. This one is by... Pinkie Pie? I didn't know she wrote songs. Anyway, this song is absolutely terrible, but sometimes its about the message, not the tune. Remember, sharing is caring."

The song that began to play was absolutely horrid. I laughed so hard that I almost fell out of the chair. I wondered what the circumstances were for anypony to write such a song. I turned the radio off. I was feeling better.

That stallion had rounded up almost half of all of our force. The twenty-three that remained formed a kind of tunnel through the operating room, back into the cell block. The ponies that wanted to return slowly walked through and shed their armor and weapons by the door before they disappeared inside. Even the mares that had been injured watched. They felt it too. The betrayal.

I was a reasonable pony. I was also stubborn as a mule when it came to some things. Someponies just weren't that stubborn when it came to anything. They didn't care about how they were treated because for their entire life, all they knew was how they were supposed to treat mares, not how the mare treated them back. I would check again with them after everything calms down to see if they would rethink the rebellion.

In the meantime, it was only a matter of time before we were overrun. It would be a good idea to pick up shop and keep moving to try to out maneuver the Overmare. After the stallions had returned to their cells, a mare called me over. She had been in security. Now it looked like she had a concussion and bullet wounds to her limbs and stomach.

"Why haven't you killed us yet?" she asked. It was a fair question.

"Because I don't want to," I told her. I had seen the mound of body bags in the other room. I didn't want it to grow any higher if I could help it.

"Why not? You're supposed to. You're a stallion. You're driven by emotion and hormones. You can't help but act like animals." Really? Is this what they taught in mare school?

"And you're not?" I asked her. "Then what drives you?"

"The Overmare," said a mare next to the one I was talking to. "The Overmare protects. The Overmare leads."

"Oh please," said the first mare. "When's the last time you actually saw the Overmare do anything besides issue commands and orders from her office? She's not a leader."

"She is! I don't need to see her to know that she's leading! I never saw the princesses, yet I know that they led Equestria! She's doing her best. The least we can do is be loyal."

"Don't you dare compare the Overmare to the princesses! Loyal? Ha! I'll be loyal when the Overmare comes down here and fights a stallion with tooth and hoof, but not until then. You, on the other hoof, were right up on the front with your stallions." She turned and looked back at me. She tried to stand up off of the medical cart, but her wounds were intense. Still she managed it.

"Officer Cinder reporting for duty," she said with a salute.

"This isn't your fight. You don't have to help us. If you want to, the best thing you can do is stay out of the way. The only reason you're in here in the first place is because you were in the way and you were lucky enough to not have died," I told her.

"Ma'am, er, sir, you need every pony you can get. You're not going to beat the Overmare with two dozen. I saw you lose half your team just now. You've extended a hoof to us that the Overmare would never extend towards you. Instead of killing us, you're helping to nurse us back to health. For all you know, we may go back and join the Overmare's ranks again. The Overmare would kill the injured rather than help them."

"TRATOR!" Cried the other mare. "You will all feel the wrath of the Overmare!" A few nurses came over to try to calm the mare. They were unable to, and had to sedate her. Officer Cinder gave her salute once more. Many mares gave it as well. Sniper, who had lost her right foreleg, simply glared at the stallion that was polishing her gun. A certain shooty look was in her eyes, but she too held a salute, with her left hoof. Her right one was gone.

So these mares were willing to help me rather than the Overmare? How many security ponies were being told to fight us, but didn't actually want to? Maybe we still had a chance after all.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading. It may be a while before the next update. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.**

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	20. Chapter 20

I stood in the hallway facing the security team. The light was dim, due to the emergency power being the only source of energy. The lead mare, a crimson earth pony with a stone-grey mane that ended in deep blue tips, stared back at me. Perhaps she had been my... no, she wasn't my mother. My coat was darker than hers. Besides, I'd always imagined that my red coat came from my sire. My team of six ponies met her team of eight. The security detail had stepped up from security patrol armament to riot control. They now wore heavier armor and powerful combat shotguns. I was not looking forward to facing those in a fight. My team in comparison wore lightly armored patrol barding and armed with light machine guns, pistols, small caliber rifles, and whatever we could find. We stared at each other for a long time.

Finally, I broke the silence. "So we need to get the lights back on. I assume you have the personnel to accomplish this?"

"I do," she replied. Fifteen mares walked down the corridor behind her and filed into a single file line along the wall. They were visibly uncomfortable with our little situation and scurried by quickly. The security chief and myself never lost eye contact. It was like a staring contest with the other colts from before I was in the queue. I was always very good at them. Mrs. Security blinked more often than I did, but we never looked away.

Once the engineers had finished passing, the hallway was once again empty, save the two teams. Two stallions in the stairs behind us would escort the mares to the generator room. The tension between the two parties did not diminish in the slightest. We glared at each other for another period of time. It got the point where even our posses began to shift nervously.

Again, I was the one that broke the silence. "So that's that then, they'll fix the lights?" I said.

"Mmhmm," the mare replied.

"So are we done here?" I asked.

"Nope," she replied. I raised an eyebrow. "UP-26, you are under arrest for defying the Overmare, resisting arrest, leading a conspiracy against the Overmare, not submitting for decommission, and disturbing the peace. You can come willingly, or with use of lethal force."

Always legislation, why is it always legislation with these ponies? The security ponies raised their shotguns. My stallions replied in kind with their weapons, we were outnumbered, but maybe that wouldn't matter.

"Okay, I know that at least half of those aren't real laws," I said. Then the room exploded. Most of the stallions jumped behind a wall to avoid the instant barrage of scatter-shot from the shotguns. EP-13's head was shattered in a bloody burst, as two security mares had targeted him in their SATS, poor stallion. I used a magical barrier to block the initial bombardment. Unfortunately, the spell disappeared as it had sustained to much damage.

I drew _Harvest Time_ and activated my own SATS. I queued three shots into the spell matrix as time slowed to a halt. This gave me time to think, plan, and act. The torsos of three mares highlighted, and those were where I sent the shots. The magical laser rifle worked like a charm. It didn't seem to matter how much armor a pony had on, the super-heated magical energy rifle fired almost as fast as any of the shotguns. Those three shots all found their mark. Two dropped immediately, the third was disintegrated, much like the mare had before. I wasn't feeling a thing. Hey, were they using rubber bullets? Didn't matter. My armor was tougher than anything they had. The shotgun pellets bounced off my reinforced titanium combat armor like a mare that... I'm not going to finish that thought.

When my SATS finished, It was five versus five. The security chief had taken cover. The other mare's spray n' pray strategy had failed them. The stallions poked out and showered their team with lead of varying calibers. I drew my revolver. Click. Pow. Click. Pow. Click. Pow. The shots were steady and constant. The mare's armor was able to protect them from the worst of my weapon. It still packed enough punch for them to lurch when I hit them.

There's nothing to compare with the rush of a firefight. That is, until a lucky pellet found its way into my gut. Ouch. A few moments later, a second one went into my neck. My Pipbuck gave me a warning that I was taking damage. I didn't care.

"Get down!" one buck cried. I dodged to the side as a metal apple missing its stem soared from behind me. It landed right smack in the middle of the mare's formation. There was an explosion, and that was that. The shooting stopped.

When I poked my head out, I counted six bodies on other end of the hallway, two by me. Buck! I had hoped that this would go smoothly. There was no sign of the security chief. She had run away. The four of us stood in shock, not sure what to do. I quickly examined the downed ponies. Those that had gone down were all dead. I felt tears in my eyes. Who had these ponies been? Who might they have been? That didn't matter. They were all dead, and it was my fault.

I wiped my eyes with my hoof. Now was no time to begin feeling remorse. The sanitation crew would pick them up. Yeah, then they would be recycled and forgotten. We stripped all of the ponies down and took all of their equipment. Then, headed back down to the medical level. I could feel the blood coming out of my injuries. Still, they weren't as serious as some of the other ponies'.

Once we emerged into the white-washed hallway, a thought struck my mind. If she were willing to risk that encounter, what else did the security chief have planned? A few stallions took the armor and weapons to alleviate our load.

I entered into the waiting room that had become a recovery ward. The purple mare from earlier was sitting on a cart with bandages wrapped around her stomach. I decided to go over and check on her.

"Hello," I said. Her face bore a pained expression. I could tell that she didn't want to to see me right now. I didn't care. I had some questions for her.

"Hi," she replied.

"So, um, sorry about the whole pistol to the gut thing," I told her. I wasn't very good with apologies. Her eyes glanced at the blood coming from my neck and stomach.

She snorted. "Seems like you took some too."

"Yeah. Hey, do you think I could ask you a few questions?" I asked her.

"You can ask, but I may not answer," she replied without looking me in the eye.

"Why were you and those other ponies not in your rooms?" She refused to acknowledge me at that point. So she had some hard feelings then. I shrugged and started walking away.

"Three," she said. I turned and faced her.

"What?"

"Three. There's three powers at play here. You, the Overmare, and oth-"

"and Gadget," I cut her off. She just stared at me. "You're with Gadget aren't you?" Once again, she started giving me the silent treatment. Something told me I wasn't going to be getting anything more out of her. Gadget shouldn't be much of a problem. She doesn't have anything against the stallions and as far as I could see, the only thing she wanted was a new Overmare.

I trotted back out into the hall. The stallions had grabbed as much equipment as they could carry. We were going to try to make a break for the commons room. Hopefully, then we could blow the wall out and escape into the stallions' side of the stable. I grabbed my radio, my guns, ammo, some food and water, and headed for the stairs. At that moment, I heard a sound coming from the locked door. I twisted my rifle around to face the doorway. The stallions halted. They heard it too.

"Incoming!" I shouted as the door exploded. A dozen security mares armed with heavier weapons rushed into the hallway. These looked like they could match my armor. The stallions jumped out of the way as automatic assault rifles and machine guns pinned us down, the lights on our level went out completely, and... what was that? I looked through the operating room into the breeder cells at the orange glow. Each one was ablaze as burning chemicals filled each cell. I saw the shadowy figures of the cowardly ponies as they cooked alive. Maybe security hadn't actually expected anypony to be in there, but half of the stable's stallion population had just been burned to crisp.

My thoughts drifted to the ponies in security. Had they simply shot them? They had known about the coup, but hadn't actually done anything yet, and whew, I needed to sleep.

The stallions replied to the mare's supressive fire with their own. I fired my rifle. It had an eight shot clip and I had three clips. The shots were much deeper more powerful than the other stallions' weapons. From what I could hear, the other stairwells weren't fairing much better. The mares had come from below.

I was pressed into an elevator door. I heard a 'ding' and it opened, revealing three ponies in heavily armored suits, and green night-vision recon goggles dangling on cords from up on the higher levels. I drew my zebra sword. A spell in the weapon blade activated, causing it to light on fire. The three mares seemed to hesitate. The one of the far left brought her gun to bear. I swung the striped saber, and cut their utility cords. The three fell away. Similar teams were emerging from other elevators, appearing all over our ranks and trapping the stallions between two fronts.

It seemed hopeless for a brief minute. We would be overrun. I could think of a few things the Overmare would do to us before the other stallions were returned to burnt cells to work overtime, making up for the stable's losses, and I would be decommissioned just like I was supposed to be. Nothing would change, life would go on as it always had.

Then the doors to the recovery ward opened. A dozen mares clothed in little more than hospital gowns ran out. Many of them were missing limbs and were still bandaged. They shot not at the stallions, but at the mares pouring into our lines. It was enough to catch security off guard.

The stallions fought hard. Spent casings littered the ground. I had fired all of my ammunition for my carbine and switched to _Harvest Time_. I still had many shots, but I would make sure to save one. Harvest would have his revenge for his stable.

A few blasts later, and in our corridor, the stallions began to push. Somepony threw a grenade, and they shot up the rumps of a few mares as they ran through the linear hallway to escape the explosive. One of them popped a smoke bomb and the air was filled with phosphorus. They didn't return fire.

"Everypony! This way!" I cried. The stallions in the other corridors were not doing as well as in this one. They ran around the rooms as they abandoned the defense. Soon, every living stallions and many injured mares. disappeared into the stairwell that I had captured. Six stayed behind. They would be going with me. EP-20 would lead the rest of the stallions to the commons room.

From back in the hospital, I heard shooting once again. This time I heard the Overmare's guns and what sounded like pipe and nail guns, as well as explosions.

I though back to Orange as I had helped him escape. It seemed that most of the stallions were grossly uneducated, like him. I was the exception. There were a few who were clever enough or smart enough to get some mares to teach them some things, but generally speaking, stallions were not smart. EP-20 seemed to be one of the smart few. I trusted that he could hold commons. Its really quite defensible. They even had help from a few mares. Now, there were another ten of us that needed a jailbreak.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading. I am sorry if this seems a little mediocre, but I have never written a story twenty chapters long before. Here's to that. Leave a comment with your thoughts and let me know if it is getting a little repetitive.**

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	21. Chapter 21

The seven of us trotted up the stairs in relative silence. As the battle below grew farther away, the sounds became quiet. We peeked into the other floors of the stable, and saw that indeed, the lights had been fixed. The stable also looked completely abandoned. Nopony had gone to work for hours, and an almost eerie stillness filled the air. It reminded me of my first trip to the stallions' stable. I shivered at the thought that this place might wind up like that.

I knew where everypony was though. If they weren't fighting on one side or another, they were hidden away, hoping that the fighting will stop and somepony will come out on top. I thought of Rose, where was she? Had she been taken away by the Overmare? I know that if I ever met somepony who I knew was my daughter... would I protect her? This place made me have Celestia knows how many children. I could be fighting alongside my sons right now or against my daughters.

I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. In their place, I saw the stallions that had returned to their cells, the flames engulfing the dancing bodies. I shivered at the thought. Those ponies had chosen to be loyal to the Overmare. They had been killed. It was my fault. I let them return to their cells. I should have told them that they couldn't go back, that they'd be traitors. Now all of them were dead. I shut my eyes, but couldn't escape the orange glow the flames. Was it some sort of Overmare fail-safe to kill us all? If every stallion in the stable died, then the stable would eventually shrivel up and die. This would be the last generation and Stable 28 would be a failure.

If that happened, then this whole endeavor would be moot. We were resisting the Overmare so that our sons wouldn't have to. What if we wound up being the cause of the stable's collapse. If other stables had failed, would I be responsible for destroying all that was left of the old world? What about a family? If everything worked out, I could settle down and have a family.

I shook my head. These thoughts were starting to give me a headache. As far as this stable is concerned I have no family. Right now, that is the least of my worries.

At last, we reached the security center of the stable. Well, the main one at least. If they were holding the stallions anywhere, it would be here. This portion told the same story as the rest of the stable. It was all but abandoned. Many of the doors were locked.

We followed the signs that read 'detention.' Soon, they pointed us true. There was a door that was situated between two frames of reinforced glass. Two guards stood on either side, each armed with a combat shotgun, a small sidearm, and a baton. The stallions hesitated as we approached, but I trotted on ahead of them without slowing my pace.

One of the guards was asleep, while the other looked quite drowsy. I trotted right past the barely conscious mare.

"Hey," she said as she watched me trot right to the door. I tried to open it. Locked. I turned and her eyes met mine. Without so much as a change in facial features, my horn glowed as I lifted the keys to the door right off the mare's belt. She just stared back, confused. Her partner snored obnoxiously. Nothing happened as I slid the key into the lock and twisted, opening the door and allowing us inside the detention block.

These mares knew what they were doing on paper, but had never had a reason to ever actually protect anything from anypony. Once again, experience would have helped that mare tremendously, had she known what to do when somepony messed with her while on duty. Yet even though she knew what to do, she didn't do anything. Good. I didn't want to have to kill two more ponies if I didn't have to. Still, this stable has the worst security anypony could get. This jailbreak might do them some good.

Inside, the detention block was divided up into three wings. A circular platform in the center where the three wings converged bore what looked like a command console. There was also an operating table that seemed only partially completed. They were going to decommission these ponies, after all. The block was two stories. There was nopony on duty.

Before I went to the console, a room off to one side was labelled 'Warden's Office.' The door was open. I stepped inside. It was a clean office with a window out into the cell block. There was a desk with a picture of a bluish-purple mare with a young, magenta filly on her shoulders. I peeked around. There was an ammo can on one side. I opened it and found ammo for my revolver and about two clips worth for my SMG's. The desk was full of papers. There was a console sitting on it. I tried to access it. The password was over twelve characters long. I'm not even going to attempt this one.

I checked underneath the desk. There was a drum fed combat shotgun with two dozen 12-gauge shells. Finally some food for my shotgun. I examined the combat shotgun. There wasn't much to say. It could shoot more ammunition faster, but my 'hunting shotgun,' as my pip-buck labelled it, packed more of a punch. Once I'd finished rummaging around, I went back out.

I trotted right up to the console. Surely there would be... Aha! Right there, a big red button labelled 'Emergency Release.' Honestly, its like whoever designed these places were asking for a breakout.

I pushed the button.

An alarm sounded. The sixty cell doors flew open, as did doors to adjacent hallways at the ends of each wing. It must have been a dozen mares armed with combat rifles and bullet-proof armor. I had gone straight into a trap. The stallions took cover where they could. I drew my SMG's and provided rapid-fire cover. The stallions in cells marked one through ten immediately poked their heads out, confused. My guns peppered away at the mare's armor, causing some to flinch from the 12.5 mm shots. I felt a heavier 45. round hit me in the shoulder. Followed closely by another to my chest. My armor was beginning to feel the use.

"Run!" I called to the other sixteen stallions. They bolted for the door that I had opened. The two stupid guards had finally realized something was wrong, and tried to block the escape. One stallion used the butt of their .22 to bash the guard in the head. She fell to the ground, unconscious. The one that had been asleep went running down the halls screaming, "Attack!"

The stallions filed out into the hall. I was getting pushed back by the overwhelming number of mares. Among them, I saw a flash of red with a tuft of blue mane sticking out the side. Tide. I finished off the clips of the SMG's, then switched to my shotgun. Tide pressed close and looked like she wanted hoof-to-hoof combat. I answered her with one blast from the shotgun as both barrels exploded in a shower of lead that sent her flying back across the room. It didn't punch through her armor, but the shotgun kicked like a mule. She would be feeling that for a while.

When I made it to the door, I found that one of the stallions had switched the key to the inside, locked it, and broke it off. If I found whoever had thought of that... it was genius. I rushed through, before closing it, and joined the stallions on the other side.

When they tried to unlock the door, but couldn't, one of the younger stallions started making faces at them. The mares simply scowled for a moment before returning to the areas that had come from to find another way around.

"Quick, this way!" I called. The stallions followed me. We went through the maze of halls. Eventually I found it, the Armory. The two guards did better than the guards at the detention block, but ultimately lead in the head makes no difference.

The Overstallion override code on my pip-buck didn't work on the mares' console, so I had to hack it the old fashioned way. The password was eleven characters long. Eventually I found it though: bulletproof. Huh.

Inside, the rows of weapons had been depleted, as had the ammo storage. Oh well, we'd make due with what we got. The stallions upgraded calibers and found a few new toys. I, myself, refilled my pockets and replaced the parts on a few of my weapons that were beginning to show signs of wear. Some ponies upgraded armor, there were more of the mecha power suit armor things lined up on a wall.

"Do you think we can get some of those working?" asked a slim light blue stallion. He was one of the few that we had freed from the cells. EP-23.

"Doubt it," I told him. "There are more where we're headed, but those give me a bad feeling. Besides, even if you could get it working, do you know how to use them?"

"Put them on and wear them just like any other old suits of armor?" he guessed. I shook my head.

"No, those are old. I don't think there's anypony in the entire stable that knows how to use them," I said. He shrugged and went back to loading clips for a 9mm semi-auto pistol.

I looked around and found a barrel with an RPG in it. I grabbed the heavy weapon. I wouldn't be able to carry it. A massive brown pony, EP-20, grabbed the rocket-launcher with his hooves.

"We're going to need that," I said with a smile.

"Of course we are," he replied. His voice was deep. I saw a fading bruise on the side of his head. Rose had told me of a group of stallions at her party. She said that a very kind, yet intimidating pony had been beaten by Tide and her cronies. If all went well, this pony would never have to take that kind of abuse again.

The armory was big. I rounded a corner and saw another row of power armor, only it didn't have any armor. A metal case, which was distinctly mini-gun shaped sat empty. I felt the fear.

I had seen what that thing could do to a pony. If it came down to it, how would we face something that spat lead faster than a mare could... Okay, I need to retrain my mind a little bit more.

Soon we were all suited up. The alarms were still ringing, but we had locked all but one entrance to the armory. We left and went straight for the stairs. As soon as we reached them, a voice rang of behind us.

"They're heading for the stairs! This way!" A stampede of hooves made the ground shake. I turned. Three of the suits of power armor were mobilized. They carried auto assault rifles. The air exploded as lead and steel filled the air.

"Go, now!" I called and I stood with four other bucks to cover their escape. We returned fire, but even a .45 round didn't do anything to the power armor. I swapped to my combat rifle and loaded armor piercing .308 rounds. This seemed to slow them down, but was still too small to penetrate their armor.

"All clear!" cried a pony behind me. I ducked as a grenade flew from behind the armored ponies and landed at my feet. I threw up and magical barrier in front of me to try to shield me from the blast. The shrapnel was deflected, but the blast threw me way back into the stairwell. I thought I was about to go over the railing, when the massive brown stallion caught me and smashed his hoof into the door control, sealing the stairs off from the mares. They had armor piercing rounds too, though that turned the door into swiss cheese.

We went down, a wide smile on my face. We had gotten the stallions out of their cells, gotten them armed, and now had a means to get to safety. This day was just going back and forth. I checked my pip-buck. Twenty-five hours since I'd slept. No matter now, I was running on pure adrenaline with the sound of the door getting cut through behind me. We were almost there.

* * *

 **Sorry about the updates, I've been out of town for a bit and will be again, so please, bear with me. Chapter 21 is complete. This is the longest piece of fiction that I have ever written. Thank you for reading.**

 **Again, I would like to say that this was inspired by the first chapter of Somber's Project Horizons. Thanks again.**

 **/)**


	22. Chapter 22

Running. Who knew that years of breeding was good for one's heart. The mares had done a pretty good job at making sure we stallions were well fed and healthy. We were able to outrun the heavy power suits and even the lighter armored mares. Still, they were behind us and would follow us all the way back down to the rest of the stallions. We made it down the stairs and were now working our way towards the commons room with me at point.

Suddenly, as we rounded a corner, there was a group of about five security ponies who were barricading the hall. They had two machine guns and what looked to be some kind of manual smoke launcher. The ponies each were wearing lighter jumpsuits, and only had small sidearms at their hips.

Of the five, the biggest one was white with red streaks through her mane. She turned as we approached, and it turned out her eyes were also a deep blood red. Her cutie mark was a bloody cleaver. She made a noise not unlike a dog growling at an intruder.

"What is it, Butch?" one of the other mares asked. They all turned and panicked as they saw the heavily armed swarm of stallions pouring down the hall. As we ran, Butcher leaped to her hooves and charged us, froth forming around her mouth. Without thinking, I drew the hunting shotgun and activated SATS. The white mare froze mid-pounce as the spell matrix stopped time. I toggled two shots straight into her face. All it took was one to turn the crazy mare's head into a bloody mess.

The other four cowered and backed up against their own barricades.

"Please don't kill us!" they cried. The other stallions drew their weapons.

"Hold your fire!" I ordered as a few shots went off. A deep blue mare with a purple mane cried out as she took a round to the leg. The gunshots went silent.

I didn't acknowledge the crowd of mares beyond glancing over them. The barricades, on the other hoof... An idea formed in my head. It was risky, but if the security chief was leading the larger security force against the main group of stallions, then perhaps the band chasing us was leaderless or at least a less qualified leader in charge. If we could confuse them, maybe we could buy ourselves enough time to get away.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do!" I barked. "EP-23," a golden stallion with a red mane and tail stood upright. "I want you to take half of us and get that barricade turned around. I'll take the other half. We've got to do something to slow these mares down."

"Um... how am I supposed to do that exactly?" he asked.

I pointed to one of the mares. "You, help him."

"What?" she asked. "You expect me to listen to a stallion?" At that comment, over a dozen barrels of iron trained on her head.

"I don't think that now is the best time to be arguing about orders!" one of the other mares shouted at her.

"We don't have time for this!" I cried.

"I'll help him," said another stallion.

"I don't care what time it is! He's not Chief or the Overmare. He's a stallion. He can't tell me what to do!" the first mare argued back at the second. I resisted the urge to put a piece of lead through her. Even though someponies were a pain, the stable just couldn't afford many losses. We were already down to a few dozen bucks. If too many went down, the stable would be doomed. The same went for the mares, just on a larger scale.

"Move it!" I barked. I really wasn't a fan of telling others what to do. I thought I sounded prideful and egotistical. Still, somepony has to have a plan, right? If another stallion decided to take charge, I would gladly hand it over to them. Then again, I was the oldest stallion this stable had probably ever seen, at least for a while.

The stallions tied up the mares and were able to undo their careful construction. The plastic and metal had to be disassembled completely and turned around before it could be reassembled. Even then, there were notches in the wall that the barricades had to fit in to. The whole process cost us many minutes. Precious minutes that we couldn't spare.

"You know, this is giving me a few ideas for the next time I put myself on the queue," said one of the mares as she was getting tied up. The stallions ignored her comment.

"Hey, this thing has a firing computer," said a young white buck, one of the few that had come with me to help the other stallions.

"Of course," said one of the mares. "How else do you fire a smoke gun? The computer controls the talismans and the talismans control the stream."

Another idea began to form in my head. "Can we rig it to auto-fire?" I asked.

"Sure, if you want to risk shorting out this level's ventilation systems," she said. I looked at the white stallion.

"On it," he said. The mare just rolled her eyes. "Stallions..."

"Too late!" cried our lookout. The small, agile, tan earth pony ran and jumped the barricade moments before a rocket hissed down the hall and blew against the it. The Big Macintoshium alloy survived, the blast leaving a large scorch mark on the wall. Two stallions grabbed the two heavy machine guns, while three others fired assault carbines back at the power-armored mares. The five of them spanned the hallway behind the fortifications.

The mares did little but flinch every now and then as a round bounced off their visors. A lucky shot from a machine gun punched through a knee joint on one of them. She went down with a crash as another rocket was fired from her battle saddle straight into the ground. She exploded to her left and crunched two others against the wall.

The stallions gave a loud holler has the metal behemoths went down. The cries died and gunshots began again as another mare emerged from the blast. This one had the massive minigun attached to her saddle. I ducked as the massive gun sang its song. The hum from the spinning weapon silenced every other weapon in the hall.

"How much longer on that computer?" I shouted at the young white stallion. "I think I got it! Just gotta hit this button to start it!" he replied. Together, he and myself lifted the gun to the top of the barricade. The mini-gun mare had stopped firing and was replacing the chain with a box that had a black stripe around it and had 'AP' written on the side. Armor Piercing. That would go straight through our barricade.

"Now!" I cried. Four stallions threw grenades at the same time as the smoke gun began to fire. The steady stream of smoke smashed right into the mare's visor and began to fill the hall. That was followed promptly by four blasts from the small explosives. That ought to have been enough to disorient anypony it didn't kill. I wasn't going to stick around to find out.

We ran, leaving the mares tied up. Now we were on the stallions' side of the fortifications. Around the corner, we entered into the commons room. The few dozen ponies were gathered in a corner. Suddenly I realized how much of a risk this had been. The commons room had access from three sides through many different doors. So it wasn't that defensible. I knew we at least needed to get here to get to safety.

"Get on the ground!" I shouted as I grabbed the rocket launcher off the larger stallion's back. He stumbled as he fell, due to the strap getting caught around his neck, but I needed to get one shot off. I loaded the massive weapon and the rocket soared with a menacing 'HISS'. Stallions and mares alike ducked as the projectile left a smoking trail in the direction it was going. It smashed were I knew the hidden doorway was, blowing the hole open.

As soon as the other ponies saw the dark hallway, they poured into the hole. I stood next to it, making sure everypony made it out. A few security ponies began to file into the room, checking up on the sudden commotion. They fired at us with their weapons. EP-19 joined me, we were low to the ground, doing our best to avoid the gunfire.

"You sure this is a good idea?" he asked. I didn't reply as a mare with an assault rifle strafed right over our heads. I drew my revolver and fired off four shots back as two more mares began to target the two of us. EP-19 drew his gun, which had an auto setting too, though it was different than the guns the mares were using, and returned fire in the same fashion. I saw one of the mares go down, while the other jumped behind the single tree right in the middle of the room. Then it got worse.

The security forces began to storm the room. EP-19 ducked through the hole to get away. The mares showered us with bullets and I grabbed a stallion as a .45 round ripped through is hind leg, then his foreleg, rendering his right side lame. I held him up and we were the last ones through.

I saw the four turrets blink to life, two on the ceiling and one high on each wall. I panicked. Had I just led these ponies into a deathtrap? Great, Equestria was going to be dead, it was all my fault.

The tri-barreled, computer-operated devices roared. Well, this was it. I expected them to rip the stallions to pieces. Yet, they weren't. Overmare's forces poured after us into the hall. The turrets rained down a hail of fire. I looked over my shoulder to see six mares fall almost instantly. Others behind them soon followed suit. The turrets provided harsh cover-fire as we fled into the stallions' stable.

Unfortunately, a pony might stop shooting at you if you were down. They may kick you, but they wouldn't shoot you. The harsh reality of a computer, though, is that it just knows that there is an enemy occupying that space. It doesn't know the condition of the enemy. If it shoots that space enough times, then the enemy will go away. The turrets killed every mare that tried to pursue us into our stable, and they killed the mares that tried to get the injured mares out. Now I understood why there were piles of bones all over the stallion's stable.

It was dark, but the stallions activated their Pip-buck lights to let them see just a little bit. They had gravitated to the mess hall two floors up. The 'stallions' were actually almost fifty-fifty stallions and defected mares. Probably two-thirds of which were wounded. All of which were exhausted. The injured were placed on the tables. While the few who could walk were tending to those who couldn't.

I examined the room. It was heart-breaking, but I knew that we still had a long way to go yet. Just because we had escaped the Overmare's grasp, doesn't mean that she won't come after us.

I took a moment to catch my breath. I hadn't checked myself over in a while. Let's see... I had several bullet holes in me, I was drenched in sweat, I hadn't eaten in hours...

"What now?" Asked a mare. I recognized her as the mare that had saluted me back in medical. I didn't see her crazy accomplice anywhere in the room. She was gray with a black mane, almost like charcoal.

"Cinder, right?" She nodded. "Can you lead a few ponies down to the maintenance level and see if you can get the generator working?" I asked her. I really didn't wan't to spare any ponies, but right now I didn't really have a choice. She nodded and began rounding up some ponies. I noticed that she only took one stallion with her.

"What do you want me to do?" Asked EP-19. His haunches were bleeding and he looked like he'd need some serious medical attention.

"I want you to rest up, EP-19. You're bleeding. Bad," I told him.

"Oh come on, its not that... Oh," He said as he looked at his shredded rump.

"You! UP-23," I called over to one of the ponies that I had freed. He was a blue unicorn with a purple mane. He seemed hesitant when I called him over. Hopefully he won't be too shy.

"I... I... I need you..." I started to say.

"Are you alright?" EP-19 asked.

Cinder looked over at me, a worried expression on her face. "How long has it been since you've slept?"

I looked at my pip-buck. I was pushing two days. Almost all of which had been spent running, fighting, or telling ponies what to do. Was the last time I'd slept really back in my little cubby in Rose's room? Ah! Rose! I needed to find her. The least I could do to repay her letting me stay in her room was to make sure she was safe.

"Two days," I said. The room started to spin.

"Get food and medical supplies," I croaked out to UP-23 as I began to feel really sick. The adrenaline rush of the last day and a half was dropping off now. I felt my muscles ache, my wounds hurt, my eyes burn, I felt my heart beating much faster than I had ever felt it, my body was shutting down, yet despite that, I laughed. I had gotten away not once, but twice now and I had taken ponies with me. Take that Overmare!

Sound dulled and I watched reality fade so that it was like I was looking down a long, black tube.

"UP-26!" I heard a distant voice yell.

Then everything turned sideways then went black.

* * *

 **Okay so trips went well, but school has started up now. Posts could be random and distant, but I will see this through to the end.**

 **Thank you so much for reading. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.**

 **Brohoof: /)**


	23. Chapter 23

"Make sure you only water them so much. If you pour too much, then the water will wash the seeds out of the soil, and into the gutter," Rose explained for the seventh time. The mare she was instructing, like many others, tilted their watering cans just a little too far. Too much water would pour out. All they needed to do was moisten the soil just enough to make it damp. Then again, these were engineers trying to grow crops in an underground shelter inside an underground shelter.

Rose had been put in charge of Gadget's gardening and farming operation. It made sense to put somepony experienced in agriculture in charge of farming, but Rose had no experience in leadership. That had always been her mother's thing, or Thistle's thing, or somepony else's thing. Now, trying to keep ponies on task was like trying to grow tomatoes in a rice planter.

"Yeah, like that. Keep trying," Rose said. The young mare poured the water in the exact same fashion, and the the seeds had floated away again. With a shake of her head, Rose moved on to the next station.

"What is this?" she asked one of the mares at the next row of planters. The two mares had been arguing about packets of seeds.

"Right Angle, over here says these are both pumpkin seeds. I say they're both squash," one of the mares said.

"That's not what I said!" the second one argued.

Rose rolled her eyes. "That is a pumpkin. That is a gourd. Neither are squash. Take them to the right planters and don't get them mixed up next time." The two took their crates of seeds and left for the proper stations. Rose sighed and face-hoofed.

"Wow, looks like things are really coming together down here, eh?" Circuit Board said as she approached. The electric blue mare with her shocking yellow mane trotted up behind her.

"Oh, circuit, I swear. Some of these ponies don't know the difference between an irrigation canal and a runoff gutter," Rose told her friend.

Circuit Board laughed. "Yeah, but that's why we have you, so that we do it right."

"I suppose," Rose sighed.

"Come on, you look like you could use a break. Gadget said she wanted you to join us for lunch," Circuit said.

"You're right. I skipped breakfast today," Rose replied.

"You're going to seriously hurt yourself if you keep skipping meals." Circuit told Rose, worryingly.

Pink Rose shrugged. The two began to leave the gardens, when Rose noticed four mares standing around just talking to other ponies.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rose asked them.

"We're done. We've already planted our seeds," They replied.

"You weren't on planting duty, you're on fertilization," Rose countered.

"Oh, well, we're done with that too," they argued.

"No you're not. I'd know if you were done, because I could smell it. The first four planters are ready for fertilization. Get it done by the time I get back, or I'm going to get Gadget to restrict your rations," Rose demanded.

"Awe, but its such a dirty job," one of them complained.

"Then do it well, and I might be able to find something a little more dainty. If not, then it looks like you're going to have dirty hooves for a while," Rose argued. The ponies stopped bothering the others and moved to pick up their buckets.

"Dang," Circuit Board said with a drop of her jaw, as the pair went through the door. "You really are related to the Overmare."

"Oh, shut up. I don't like telling other ponies what to do." Rose doubled back and poked her head through the hatch again. One of the four ponies was filling her bucket, while the others had resumed lounging as soon as Rose left. They saw her poke her head back in and jumped up, panicking. Once again, they pick up their buckets and joined their friend at the filling station. Rose shook her head and left with Circuit Board to go to lunch.

Gadget wasn't there yet, so Circuit Board and Pink Rose found themselves a table. There were about a hundred and fifty to two hundred ponies that had moved into the miniature stable. It was small, bland, and even more cramped than the main stable. The main entryway was the biggest room, besides the extensive storage compartments. Leave it to the engineers to plan more area for resource storage than living space. The main entryway was where meals were held. A couple dozen circular tables had been set up not far from the food vendors.

Word got around quickly in these tight spaces. Unfortunately, there were rumors that the main had been turned into a war zone. Ponies were talking about everything from monsters breaking open the main gear-shaped door and killing everypony, to stallions that were ripping ponies in two, to a massive stalemate where nothing was happening. Rose wanted to know what was happening to her home.

After a short while, Gadget appeared. The old, brown mare trotted up with a corn burger and some hayfries. She looked stressed, but happy. It was common knowledge that she kept tabs on as many of her subordinates as possible. Until a few days ago, Rose had never met her. Now, they had spoken several times, and Rose could see why the maintenance ponies liked her so much.

"Hello Circuit, how's the reactor coming along?" She asked as she sat down.

"Just fine. We're only functioning at sixty-percent efficiency, and the lights don't even flicker," Circuit replied. "Everything going according to the specifications I designed. If only the Overmare had let me make the modifications to the stable's reactor..."

"That's great news. I'm glad its all going smooth. Do you need any more hooves to help?" Gadget asked.

"Nope," Circuit said with a smile. "In fact, I've almost got too many ponies down there. I can spare a few in another department needs any more ponies."

"I'll get back to you on that," Gadget turned to Rose. "Ah, Rose. I'm so pleased that you were able to join us for lunch. How are things down in the gardens?"

"Well, they could be better. Honestly, These ponies are growing plants. It's not a construction job."

Gadget chuckled, "Yes, well, that's why we have you, so that you can help us."

"That's what I said." Circuit said through a mouthful of potato stew.

"So how long do you think it will be until the first harvest?" Gadget asked.

"First harvest? It should be months yet. Food doesn't just grow overnight. There are unicorn spells that can speed up production, but I can't help you there," Rose pointed out.

"I see, well if you need any help, just let me know and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Rose said. She then started to say something, but she hesitated.

"Is there something else?" Gadget asked.

"Well, yes," Rose rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. "Its just... What's going on with the rest of the stable?"

Gadget's smile faded. "Why?"

"Because I want to know. I have friends out there. I want to know what's happening to them. What's happening to the stallions?" Rose continued to push.

Gadget sighed. "It's not good. I tried to bring that stallion in twice. The first time, the genius of an earth-pony thought we were taking him prisoner and tried to bring him in at gunpoint. Turns out, if you're in the middle of a revolution, you're not to interested at being forced to do anything. We lost contact with the mare. The two unicorns that were with her said she got shot. Bad. I don't know if she's dead or not, though.

"The second time I tried to have him brought in, we just missed him. He had holed up in the main medical clinic, where the breeder cells are. Somehow he got small arms to the stallions and they had a decent foothold there. For some reason, he decided to move. As they were leaving, the Overmare attacked using tactics that I have only ever read about in history books. The stallions were gone when we arrived. We lost over a dozen ponies to the Overmare in the fight that ensued, but from the looks of things the Overmare is licking her wounds too.

"To sum it up, I haven't heard anything about non-combatants, the stallions have disappeared, and it seems like the fighting is beginning to stall. It seems that between us and the Overmare, the battle lines have been drawn."

Rose and Circuit Board lowered their heads in thought. Both of them had friends that were out in the stable.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you with any more news," Gadget concluded.

"That's okay," Rose replied. "I just hope that stallion is okay. He really didn't seem like the kind of pony that would just kill."

"Were you two really that close?" Circuit asked.

"Well, I was the only mare he ever really talked to for weeks. I know that he felt close to me."

"I'm sure he has a reason for what he's doing. I'm sure that either the Overmare will catch him, or we will. Either way, I'm sure you'll see him again. During the fight in medical, we found the burned remains of seventeen ponies still in the cells. He's lost a lot of numbers. When he surrenders, the Overmare will keep him alive to keep breeding. If he comes to us, I'll make sure you see him," Gadget explained.

"Thank you..." Pink Rose said with a frown.

"What's wrong? Wouldn't that be what you want?" Circuit Board asked.

"Yeah... No... I don't know. He'd be alive, I'd know that. But I don't think its what he'd want. If it were what he'd want, then he'd turn himself in and it would happen just like you said."

Gadget looked down at her hooves. "I see. Do you think the stallions should be considered the same as mares?"

Pink Rose looked at the Gadget, then at Circuit, and back to Gadget.

"I... don't know. All I know is that he wants to be free from the Overmare. That's why he hid for so long," Rose replied.

"Do you think he stands a chance?" Circuit asked.

"Gadget, you gave them six hours before they were put down. Its been almost three days, and they're still out there," Rose replied.

"Maybe I underestimated the stallions. Maybe I overestimated the Overmare. Either way, they may have already been put down. There were many bodies around medical, though not enough to be all of the bucks. There was no sign of the rest. They may have lost and are currently being held in security."

"And if they are?" Rose asked.

"Then we'll get them out." Gadget replied.

"And if they're not?" Rose followed up.

"Then I hope they do anything stupid." Circuit Board answered.

"Then we'll find them." Circuit replied.

Rose looked down at her daisy sandwich. She wasn't hungry anymore. Tears began to ease their way down her face. Circuit put a hoof on her shoulder. Gadget leaned back in her chair.

"It's okay Rose. Everything's going to be okay," Circuit told her.

"I know. I just hope that buck kills Mother soon. I can't stand this." Rose said as she began to sob.

"Come on, Rose. I know you don't mean that. Let's take this to your quarters so you can finish eating there," Circuit replied.

"If I find anything on him, I'll let you know," Gadget said as she got up.

Rose and Circuit left for her quarters, where they spent the rest of the evening. Rose had been such a mess, that Circuit decided to stay the night with her. Hopefully everything will come to a close soon. Then again, that's why they built gardens. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

* * *

 **Okay, so a little bit on Rose's story. What do you all think? Sorry its been a while since I last uploaded. School and everything takes up a lot of my time. Leave a comment with what you think of the story so far. Thank you very much for reading.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	24. Chapter 24

I found myself floating in a void. An endless expanse stretched onward in every direction. Tiny motes of light dotted the blank slate that was this space. I was not moving, and my hooves were not on any sort of solid surface. Had I died? Was this what it was like? Just an endless nothingness? I didn't do anything at first. I just gazed out into the openness.

Finally, I decided to call out. "Hello?"

There was no verbal response, but from somewhere behind me, I heard a strange shuffling sound. I turned, and there was a figure there. A small table was set up, a deck of cards in front of the pony. I was unable to see the face.A large, tattered cowpony hat sat low, hiding any sort of features. A poncho, also tattered, hung off the pony's shoulders. A mist enveloped the figures lower portions.

I felt a surface under my hooves and I was able to walk over to the table.

I stared for a moment, not sure what to do. Bony hooves reached out and picked up the cards. The sound repeated as the deck was shuffled thoroughly. When the figure finished, it looked up at me. The pony's face was obscured by a skull. Bright red eyes leeched out of the sockets.

"Hello," A deep, ancient voice spoke.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"Ah, that's the question isn't it?" He paused. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I asked first," I snapped. I did not like the look of this figure.

"And if I refuse to answer?" He stated calmly.

"Then I won't either."

"Fair enough," the bony pony chuckled then began to shuffle the cards again. I watched as his hooves expertly maneuvered the cards three times. Then he paused. He lifted the top card off of the deck and held it out to me. There were two pictures of me from my shoulders up. One right side up, the other upside down. The boarder was black, and there was a letter "A" in the top left and bottom right corner. A shape kind of like an upside down apple was on it. I looked at it, unsure of what to do.

"Take a seat," he said.

I noticed a chair at the table beside me. Either it had just appeared out of thin air, or I just hadn't noticed it. I hesitated. I did not like the look of this situation. But given that there wasn't anything else around, I decided to sit. He placed the card directly in front of me.

"Do you know how to play?" he asked, gesturing to his deck.

I shook my head, "I've never played cards before."

"Well then I'll teach you. There's a very simple game that every child learns very young." He dealt a card to me, then to him, then to me again, until we each had five cards. He placed the remainder of the deck in the middle of the table.

"Pick up your hand and look at each card carefully. You're going to want to ask me to give you a card that you have. If you get four of the same card, its called a book. Whoever has the most books when all the cards are used up wins. I'll go first to show you how its done."

He looked at each of his cards, then at me, then back at his cards.

"Do you have any fives?" he asked.

"No," I said. "I don't."

"Then you say 'Go Fish'." A window, of sorts appeared to my right, overlooking the table. Both of our gazes turned and watched as a stable was blasted open by savages. Those must be the raiders out in the wastes that the radio was talking about. They were led by a pony made of metal. Two massive cannons were mounted on its shoulders. It, and the raiders, disappeared into the stable.

I was horrified. I had never seen a stable open up like that before. What ensued was a bloodbath. The raiders slaughtered the inhabitants of the stable, and took their pip-bucks by ripping them clean off their limbs. Their Overmare got what ours deserved.

Suddenly, out of the chaos that the stable had become, a pure white mare with a red and black mane came running out of the tunnel that led to the stable, after antagonizing the behemoth. She wore security armor, and was armed with a standard issue shotgun.

She bolted out of the stable while a blue buck limped along beside her. The army of raiders pulled out of the stable and pursued her out into the wasteland. This wasteland was different than the one I saw. Sure, it still looked poisonous, the grey sky was still the same, and it looked all but bleached of life, but this wasteland was in the shadow of something dark.

The ancient city dwarfed the one outside our stable. There was an island that was completely sealed off by raised drawbridges, and collapsed catwalks. A heavy green glow hung over the core of the city. Tall black skyscrapers seemed to stretch endlessly upward. One in particular punched right through the gray sky right into the heavens.

The white mare and blue stallion ran along a road away from the raiders, who took a different route. They had gotten away, but they had something that the raiders wanted. The window vanished.

"What was that?" I asked.

"That was when Go Fish became Blackjack," the pony croaked.

"I don't understand," I said, curiously.

"She is very much like yourself. You want something, and to get it, you have to play the game. Yet you don't know what you want or how to play," He said.

"I know what I want. I know what I've always wanted," I protested.

"And what is it that you want?" He asked.

"Liberty," I told him

"Ah, freedom. You feel like a slave who doesn't have freedom," He pointed out.

"I... suppose?" I said.

"And what of those mares," he stated.

"What?"

"Those mares in medical, those mares in security, those mares in maintenance. They already have freedom, do they not?" He asked.

"Where are you going with this?" I countered.

"You've killed. You've killed ponies that weren't trying to hurt you," he pointed out.

"Oh? How could you know about that?" I snapped. This conversation was beginning to gnaw at my patience.

"They wanted freedom too. The difference is, they already have more than you, so you killed them," He growled.

I paused for a long moment, meditating on his point and thinking about those ponies in medical.

"I didn't kill them because they were free and I was a slave," I told him.

"Then why did you kill them? Cold blood?"

"I said that I want liberty, not freedom," I argued.

"What's the difference?" The old, scarred pony pushed.

"The difference is that freedom for some at the expense of others is tyranny. Liberty may not be absolute freedom, but it's pretty bucking close!" I cried at him.

He paused, studying me closely again.

"Then it looks like you'll have to learn how to play the game," he said. Again, his hooves shuffled the cards. At some point, we had played out the rest of go fish. He had won, by one book.

"I'm The Dealer. You'll be playing against me." He dealt two cards to each of us. I got a king and a queen. The king had a familiar looking pony on it. Orange. That stallion that I had sent out into the wastes to avoid his decommission. Only now, he wore a long duster and a cowpony hat, only a nicer one than the Dealer's. He also had a pair of tinted goggles and a long scoped rifle. The wasteland looked good on him. Again, there were two of him on the card, only from the shoulders up. The five was a regular five of hearts. That gave me a total of sixteen

"Hit me." I said.

He looked at me questioningly. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. He tossed me another card, a four of clubs. I was pretty much set now. A score of twenty is a hard hand to beat without a blackjack.

"I'll stay," I said.

He gave himself a card, then looked me right in the eye. I looked back. We both flipped our hands. My twenty met his two fives and an ace. Had I had him hit me again, I would have gotten that ace, giving me a twenty-one. Instead, he took it and added the eleven to his score of ten.

"You're learning," said The Dealer.

I felt pained as I gave Orange to the dealer. It felt like I had let somepony down. This was just a harmless game of cards, right?

Again, The Dealer dealt. I looked at my hand. A queen of hearts and an ace of spades. The ace of spades was Green wearing a stable maintenance jumpsuit. The queen was Rose in an absolutely gorgeous ball gown.

"Blackjack!" I cried as I flipped the cards. He flipped his. He had two queens. One queen of spades and queen of diamonds. The queen of spades was the Overmare, pink coat and purple mane and all. The other was an older brown pony, Gadget. He tossed me the two cards.

"How much do you want it?" He asked.

"Very much," I told him.

"Clearly enough to risk yourself, but enough to risk others?" The Dealer pushed.

I didn't respond, just met his gaze.

Another window appeared. This one showed another stable. This one was underneath an old barn. I saw a stunning charcoal mare emerge into the wastes shortly before nightfall. She promptly wandered off. The barn was on the outskirts of a small village. Much smaller than the city outside stable 28. A few hours later, shorty after nightfall, another pony came out of the hole. This one was a cute gray mare with a brown mane. Her mark was a pip-buck, how disappointing.

She panicked at the openness and at the darkness of a world without the hum of a generator, or the protective walls that a stable provided. She quickly got to her hooves and began to set out, calling the name of the pony that had left earlier, but was unable to find her.

I watched as she too wandered out into the wastes. This one was less violent than the first.

"What was the point of that?" I asked.

The table had changed. Now there were two cards in my magical aura. The dealer held two with his hoof. How did he do that? Three cards were laid out on the table. I had a king and an ace, both spades. This time, the king was Orange, the Ace was somepony that I had never seen before. three cards were laid out on the table. One of them was a queen of spades, Rose. The next card was a two of hearts, that wouldn't do much. The third card was Harvest, a ten of spades. I knew him from pictures in his office. He was wearing the very same jumpsuit that I had adopted as my own.

"I bet fifteen," I said as I tossed fifteen chips into the pot. The chips bore the faces of the stallions and mares that had come with me into the Stallions' Stable. His bore the faces of ponies that hadn't. Apparently we had played a few hands, because he had much more chips than I did.

"I'll meet that," he said. Then, he dealt another card, a five of clubs.

"Twenty," I said.

"Twenty-five," he countered.

"Twenty-five" I echoed, and we both threw the chips in. He threw the last card down. It was a jack of spades with me on it.

"All-in," I said.

"I'll meet that," He replied.

"Dealer, are you the ghost?" I asked him.

"Ghost... Yeah, I guess you could call me a ghost," he replied. "But I'm not the ghost that you're talking about. You'll meet them soon enough."

Then we laid our cards down. I had a king and and an ace, both of spades, in my hand, with a queen, ten, and jack to complete the royal flush. I had the best winning hand a pony could have. They were all spades though, I could have folded early on. This was a risky game.

He bore a jack and a ten, both hearts. They were both ponies with wings. One was wearing an officers uniform, while the other wore some kind of advanced armor that I had never seen before.

I reached out and took the pot. All the stable ponies were safely in my hooves. I looked up. The Dealer was gone. I looked back at my hooves. The chips too were gone. All that was left was the table and the ace that had my face on it. I picked up the card and stood out of the chair.

The card table vanished and soon I was floating again in the emptiness of the expanse. The only thing that remained was my card. From somewhere there came a blinding white light, and that was it.

* * *

 **Okay, this was a chapter that I was excited about for a while. Just a disclaimer, The Dealer, Blackjack, and P-21 come from Project Horizons by Somber, while Littlepip and Velvet Remedy come from Fallout: Equestria and belong to Kkat. With that, I hope you've enjoyed reading. Thanks, and feel free to leave a comment.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	25. Chapter 25

I began to wake up. The first thing I noticed as I began to regain consciousness, was that of a clock. The steady "Tick. Tick. Tick." punctuated the second thing I noticed, the steady hum of a working generator. The mare's generator could be heard from the Stallions' Stable, but it was much more quiet, much more distant. This one was closer. The stallions had gotten the generator running.

I rolled over in my bed to get ready to stand up, when... wait, a bed? Sure enough, I opened my eyes, and I was laying on a large queen-sized sheet on a particularly comfortable mattress. The blue comforter with a yellow trim were Stable-Tech standard issue, but this spread was the type that the Overmare had. No other ponies had a bed this large.

It was dark, so I couldn't see much. What I could make out however proved that this was not the Overmare's private quarters. There was a desk that looked like an antique with a built-in terminal and a bookshelf crammed with books. I couldn't make out any titles, but there were more than I could read in a year.

The clock, an old grandfather replica, sat in a corner. The Stable-Tech logo was engraved in the center of the face, and was glow-in-the-dark, as were the two hands. There were pictures on the walls of ships, war machines, and portraits of ponies long gone. Various other knick-knacks and artifacts were scattered throughout the room.

I turned on the light on my pip-buck. The sudden illumination sent a blade through my temples. Okay, not literally, but I had a killer headache. I got up and trotted over to a wall, where I pushed the button to turn on the actual lights. As if on queue, the door to the room hissed open. Officer Cinder, the mare who saluted me in medical, stood there with Green, another stallion, and Sniper, who was wearing a new pair of aviators.

"Oh good, you're up. Feeling alright?" she asked.

"My head feels like I've OD'd on something," I told her.

"Well... you need to do a better job of taking care of yourself. Syringe said that you were sleep deprived, and deficient in many necessary vitamins and minerals. I don't know the specifics, but she put you on a bunch of drugs and you should be taking some tablets after you've had a good meal," she instructed.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Your body shut down because you need to eat, sleep, and drink, just like everypony else. I was talking to some of the stallions, and they said that you've only eaten one meal since all of this started and that you haven't slept."

"Yeah, so? I was busy," I argued.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just do as the doctor orders. Anyway, that's not why I'm here."

"Did something happen? How long was I out?" I suddenly panicked as I checked my pip-buck.

"About twelve hours. Syringe kept a minor sedative in your system to make sure you got a good night's sleep," she informed me.

"Okaaayyy," I said. "I can tell you've got the generators working. I assume most major systems are up?"

"Ha, we wish. Power is on, and we've been able to get the air filters online, but not much else. It took us eight hours just to get the lights on," she continued.

"Right, how did you even manage that?" I asked.

"Mostly manuals and a few tech-savvy hooves from your ranks. Turns out just about everything the Overmare taught us in school about you guys was wrong. Now, if we could take this into your office, there are some things we need to discuss," Cinder suggested.

I nodded. We exited out into the hall and proceeded down some corridors that were unfamiliar. It was strange, but I began to get my bearings the longer I was awake. My vision was spinning from the headache, and my head was a swirl of thoughts.

Soon, we entered Harvest's office, the sign outside glowing with the word "OVERSTALLION" written across it. We entered, and I found myself trotting over to the semi-circular desk. I took a moment to look at the room in the light.

It was dusty. Everything had a white layer on it, like something had painted an even white finish atop every surface. To my left, on top of a small table, was the empty glass case where _Harvest Time_ once sat. Its outline could still be seen.

I ran my hoof over the surface of the desk. It was a thick layer. Specs danced through the air as the lights buzzed above my head. I took a seat behind the semicircle, the huge six-screened management terminal behind me, the four ponies in front of me.

Green grinned, "Overstallion looks good on you."

I set my hooves on the table and gave a mock evil grin. "All mares are to be taken to security and detained until proper living conditions can be created."

All four ponies took a step back and bore horrified expressions. They all thought I was serious? I immediately knew that I had made a mistake.

"Nonono! I'm kidding!" I said. "Jeez, just because I'm leading a revolution, doesn't mean I can't make a joke."

Sniper looked to Cinder. "He passes out from exhaustion, then he wakes up with a sense of humor?"

Cinder rolled her eyes again, "Stallions..."

An awkward moment gripped the room.

"Oookay, then. What was so important that we needed to be in here?" I asked.

"First off, you want to be Overstallion, right? I don't know how you found an entire other stable, but you did. Now, you need to get comfortable in your chair. Are you?"

"Come to think of it, its a little high," I replied, getting a grin from the two stallions.

"Well get used to it, because you're going to be there a lot," Cinder told me.

"Not necessarily. The Overmare is in her office a lot. I don't have to be," I argued.

"Fine, we'll see. The first pressing matter is that of an escapee. Shortly after we got the power on, somepony bolted for the exit back into the Mares' Stable. I don't know who she was, but she's gone," Cinder told me.

"Can I see footage? You said powers back online. We have cameras, right?" I asked.

"Sure. You'll need to tap into surveillance using the terminal behind you." Cinder instructed.

The terminal was big and intimidating. I did not want to be messing with it. Still, I needed to know if the deserter will be a problem. I spun the chair around, yes, it was a spinney chair, and turned the terminal on. For a brief moment, all of the screens showed static, then one turned green. It read "Administrative Password Input". I did not know Harvest's terminal password, so I connected the pip-buck to the terminal. Whatever was in the pip-boy, the terminal accepted as a password and opened.

Immediately, all six screens showed files, file locations, command prompts, status changes, update checks, and much more.

"What now?" asked the stallion that was with Green. Now I remembered who he was. He was the pony who took Sniper's rifle in that first battle. Speaking of Sniper, she no longer had bandages where her leg used to be. She now had a stub that seemed to be growing into a new hoof. Medical could regrow limbs? Eew.

"I- I don't know. I've never seen a terminal do this," Cinder was now just as perplexed as everypony else.

I found a search bar at the top of the screen. Upon entering "Surveillance footage" into the search bar, a user came up on the database. I accessed it and was able to get a live feed from almost any available camera. On a different screen was the user page. I input the name of the hallway and the specified time sequence, and just like that, I caught her. The pink mare that I had shot in the stomach had healed, thanks to magic, and had run down the hall for the Mare's Stable.

"Will she be a problem?" Cinder asked.

"No, she's fine. She's just scared, liker everypony else." I replied. Surely she wouldn't go try to help the Overmare find some weakness in. She's with Gadget. She'll go back to her.

Cinder shrugged. "If you say so..."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Yep, these two have a debate to settle. As Overstallion, its up to you to help settle this," Cinder continued.

"Why? if they have a problem, can't they work it out?" I protested.

Cinder chuckled. "They've been trying. These two can fight on and on and on. I've got to admit, I saw him throw some halfway decent hits, even he is a stallion."

"Oh dear. What's the problem?" I questioned.

"I want my gun back," Sniper stated bluntly.

"Its not yours anymore. _Seduction_ is mine," the stallion countered.

"It's name is _Howler_." Sniper argued. "And it wasn't yours to begin with."

I looked at Cinder as the two began to go at it with each other. She shrugged and we both grinned. We watched for a moment, until Sniper smacked the stallion upside the head. In response, the stallion tackled Sniper to the ground.

"So are we placing bets?" I asked. Cinder grinned at that comment. Yes! I knew I could say something at least remotely funny.

"Enough!" I roared over their scrap. "Do you have the gun with you?"

The two of them stopped. The stallion was about to snap Sniper's other foreleg, and Sniper was about to bite into the stallion's rear leg.

"Yeah," said Sniper. She shoved the stallion in the shoulder, and he pulled a case out of his saddle bag. He opened the case and assembled the weapon. It was truly a beautiful piece of machinery. I ran my hoof from stock to barrel, not missing a bolt or screw. The scope was clean, the metal polished, the gun was clearly will-kept. I picked it up and sighted it into the wall beside us. Finally I set it against the desk, and broke it in two.

Both of the ponies' jaws gaped. Even Cinder seemed shocked. I handed them each a piece of the gun.

"There's a workstation two floors down, next to the armory. Go make one for each of you. I want to see them both. Or, you can fix this one and settle this by yourselves. Got it? _B_ " They both nodded.

"Good. Problem solved," I looked to Cinder once again. "Was that all?"

"Nope, there's a couple more major issues that I wanted to address," she replied.

"Alright, what's next?" I asked.

"Names," Cinder said.

"What?" I asked.

"Names. You ponies need names. I go around... EP-this and UP-that... If you want to truly be respected in the eyes of the Overmare, you're going to need a name," Cinder explained.

"Why? I'm UP-26. Isn't that enough?" I asked.

"If I may," the stallion began. I nodded to him. "Ponies started calling me Hotshot after that first fight. If it would be alright, I'd like to keep it. I like the sound of it."

I turned to Green, who was just standing there. "I guess I need something better to call you than 'Green,' huh."

Green shrugged. "I don't care. You can call me whatever you want."

I sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. If other ponies want to go around making up names for themselves, then they can go right ahead."

"And what about you, Overstallion? Surely you don't want to be called by your title, and I'm not calling you 'Sir', because I'm not your subordinate," Cinder said.

"You know what? Call be _b_ ucker for all its worth," I said, then put my face in my hoof at how ridiculous my comment was. "Fine I'll get back to you with a name."

"Thank you. And finally, the last thing on the list of things..." Cinder was hesitant. She looked to Sniper, Hotshot, and Green, each meeting her gaze before looking me in the eye.

"What?" I asked.

"The Overmare has requested that you speak with her ASAP," Cinder said.

"That reminds me," I answered. "Where're my guns?"

* * *

 **Okay... Twenty-five Chapters? I never expected this to go this long. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. Really, it helps keep me inspired, and I know to keep writing if you all keep supporting this, so thank you very much. I hope this is as fun to read as it is to write XD**

 **Brohoof /)**


	26. Chapter 26

My guns and combat armor had been placed in the dresser underneath _Harvest Time's_ empty display case. The steel plates of the armor had seen much better days, and were practically falling off the material holding them on. I decided to fix this issue next time I visit the armory.

My guns, on the other hoof, were in much better condition. I had plenty of shots for my revolver, assault carbine, and _Harvest Time._ My shotgun, or rather the shotgun I had taken from that pink mare, had considerably fewer shots. Then again, with a shotgun a single round of buckshot will go a lot farther then a .357 round. My zebra saber was in there too. It looked freshly polished.

I slid the armor on over the Overstallion jumpsuit that I had woken up in, and examined the weapons laid out in the drawer. Green would be going with me to see the Overmare, as would Cinder. She would appoint two mares, while I would take one other stallion. An even distribution of ponies may give the Overmare a false perspective on our numbers. It's a bluff though, so who knows?

I elected to leave most of my guns in the drawer. I had no idea how this meeting would go, so I didn't think that taking all of my best weapons was a very good plan. I had found an Overpony issue 10mm pistol in a hidden compartment under the main desk. I chose to take that little gun only. While it was small, the upgraded chamber, quick reload mags, and extended barrel seemed to show that was a weapon to be reckoned with.

"You know this is a trap, right?" said Green as I was getting ready.

"Yeah," I replied. "The Overmare hasn't said anything to me, and now she suddenly wants to talk face to face. She has something up her sleeve."

Green was already set to go. He hadn't shed his armor since he left his cell, and his bolt-action rifle had either been in his hooves or over his shoulder. He was the kind of pony that I worried about the most. He'd accepted Cinder's help much readier than other stallions. He was a good pony. Ponies like him didn't deserve to die. He was the kind of pony that I didn't want to let down.

I was fixing my helmet to my head, when I noticed something drop out of my jumpsuit. Looking down, I saw The Ace, my Ace. Green didn't notice, but when I saw it, the dream came rushing back to me like a wave of emotion. Wrapping my magical aura around it, I picked it up.

"Hey, did anypony come into my room while I was out?" I asked Green.

"No. You were under guard the whole time, by two ponies," he replied. "If somepony had gotten in to mess with you, then they would have been seen."

"Could they have gotten in using magic?" I continued.

"No, I don't think so. I'm not a unicorn, but I think there's some enchantment that prevents disloyalty or something. I'm sure Cinder would know more. Why? Is something wrong?" Green asked.

"No, everything's fine. I was just wondering," I concluded.

I continued to stare at the card for a about another minute, then I slipped it into a band on my helmet. Once I was all set, we stepped out into the hall and joined the rest of the ponies in the massive dining hall that had become our home base.

There were still a lot of ponies that were either injured or dying. I looked each in the eye as I passed their tables. The medical mares that had joined us were hurriedly rushing from pony to pony distributing healing potions and giving food and water to those who were hurt. My heart broke. Again I felt unsure about whether all of this was worth it or not. If we just stopped and returned to our cells, no more ponies would have to die.

No, that would just cause our sons to live the same life we have. Our daughters would still have to live under the Overmare's oppression. Besides, when it came time to appoint a successor, she wouldn't pick Rose. Rose was too good.

I shook my head. This is what I decided to do. We could be so very close to ending this conflict. If I wanted to play dirty, then I could shoot the Overmare the moment I saw her. I imagine a lot of the stable would be thankful for that. Then again, shooting their enemy under a sign of truce is right up the Overmare's alley. Maybe she would respect her own truce and we wouldn't have to worry about it. She doesn't usually negotiate though. What the Overmare says is law.

Ugh, my head hurt and these thoughts weren't helping. I decided to push the thoughts to the back of my mind and just not think about it. Waiting just ahead was Cinder with two mares that had been security ponies, and one of the massive stallions that had been freed from the security cells. Green and I approached, all set.

"Are you ready for this?" Cinder asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I answered.

"Alright. Just don't screw this up," Sniper said.

We then made our way in silence down the hall and towards the Mare's Stable. The hole that had been blown open still had not been sealed. The two massive turrets rumbled quietly, waiting for a target to cross the doorstep into the Stallion's Stable. Dozens of fresh bodies were laying atop long-dead corpses, riddled with bullet holes from the large weapons.

Cinder caught my glance. "We still don't know how these work. Although this part of the stable looks like it used to be run only by males." She sighed. "I don't know how much of what the Overmare taught us was true. I can't believe that our ancestors may have enslaved you."

I looked her right in the face. I knew what it was like to discover something new and have your world changed in more ways than one. To discover that everything you've known may not be what is real is truly a difficult thing to comprehend.

I also noticed the open vent behind the turrets. I smiled softly as I remembered running about down here in the dark. That little opening had been my only way in and out. Bones still littered the halls. Together, the six of us entered the commons chamber that had become the front lines of our battle.

There she was, The Overmare. A stunning pink pony with a purple mane, Velvet Rose sat at a makeshift tea table facing our entryway. She was enjoying a freshly brewed cup od tea as our party made our entrance. The two dozen security personnel on the two floors of the room took aim with assault weapons. Every one of them had a clear shot.

They didn't fire though.

The Overmare put a hoof up, and they lowered their weapons. She took a sip and stood.

"Greetings, EP-26, or should I call you Overstallion?" she said, politely. Everypony knew there was venom to her words. There always was.

I remained silent, standing next to a seat opposite hers.

"Oh please. You've been trying to get a hold of me for days. Now I answer, and you stay silent? Surely you have something to say."

"I should shoot you where you stand," I told her. Buck! She was unarmed.

"Hm. But you won't," she said.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Because I'm not carrying a weapon. It's dishonorable to shoot an unarmed opponent. Am I right?" she pointed out.

Again, I remained silent.

"Have a seat, and we can begin negotiations, if you wish." The Overmare sat and took another sip of tea.

I sat too. I gave her my best "I don't want to be here right now" look. I was sure I could've cut glass with my glare.

"Tea?" she offered.

I looked at the little white and pink teacup that was sitting in front of me. Pictures of dancing animals with big ears and long tails adorned the tea set. They played instruments and sang silent songs. Sandwiches sat on a saucer, and sugar cubes in a small bowl. I returned my gaze to the Overmare. Still not speaking.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then. There's plenty to go around." She poured me a cup.

I lifted the cup to my lips and started to drink. It was sweet, but not like Sparkle-Cola, and it was hot. This was probably the first warm beverage I'd ever had. I should not have tried to take in a whole mouthful. I scalded the inside of my mouth and spat the burning drink out all over the white tablecloth and my jumpsuit. Immediately my torso began to burn too. I could've sworn I heard snickers and giggles from the mares on both sides of the table.

"No no no. Tea is a hot drink. There's not a lot in the cup. You don't need to chug it down. Take small sips. A little bit goes a long way. See? like this." Holding the cup be the small handle, she took a dainty little sip just off the top of the drink.

I then repeated her action. It was better. Still hot, but at least now it wasn't burning my taste buds.

"There you go. Just do it like I do. Isn't that better?" she asked.

I looked at the drink once again. It really didn't look very appetizing. Brown with stuff floating inside it, tea looked nasty but tasted sweet.

"I don't like it," I told the Overmare.

She sighed. "Ah, very well." She motioned for somepony to come over. A security officer approached and poured the rest of the tea out. She then put the set away into a heavy metal case and took the white table cloth.

In its place, a red linen table cloth was draped over the makeshift table. Red wine was brought out and fine glasses were placed in front of myself and her. Neither of us said a word while the change was happening. A young officer poured the wine, bowed, then disappeared behind the security's ranks.

The Overmare took a sip of this too, a much bigger one than the tea. I too took a sip. The drink was soothing on my burns.

"Is this better?" she asked.

I nodded. I was still determined not to give her what she wanted. Yet she seemed so calm and collected. I had spilled tea all over myself and her decor. This was not going well right now. There were many things I wanted to say to her, just not around her security force. I saw the chief standing at attention behind her. The blue mare was wearing sunglasses. Her mane was done not unlike that of the great pegasus Wonderbolt Spitfire that I had read about in Rose's books. Her stance was stern and unwavering. Yet even with her expressionless cover, she seemed to be seething with rage.

"What are your terms?" the Overmare asked.

I hesitated in my response. My mind drifted back to our earlier conversation. Finally I said, "Your words should be enough of a weapon for me to shoot you."

"Hm! And your treason reason enough for me to have you shot," she replied. Somewhere in the crowd, I heard the "Click-Click" of a gun cocking.

I sat upright and stuck my chest out. My gaze and my mindset went from threatening to outright challenging. If a shot went off, I'd strangle her with my magic before I died. Still, my hoof brushed the powerful pistol at my waist.

The Overmare rolled her eyes. "Well, this isn't going to get anywhere if we just stand around threatening each other. If you don't want to talk out here, why don't we head into my office and get this little issue resolved. Enough blood has been spilled in my stable."

I looked to Cinder and Green. Both shrugged. I returned my gaze to the Overmare and nodded.

We stood and left the cleanup to the security officers. I followed the Overmare as she led the way out into a hall and away from her garrison.

"You know, in hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea to try to negotiate right under my best mares. I'm sorry for putting that kind of pressure on you," The Overmare said as we went down the hall. I knew these halls well. There were all sorts of nooks and crannies to hide would-be assassins in.

"I want this fighting to end just a badly as you do. Really I do. I understand that you feel wronged and that you have been pushed to these drastic measures. I only hope that we can find a peaceful resolution. What else can be said of the Great War if ponies continue to fight after we've all been driven underground. Have we really learned nothing?" I started to tone out her monologue.

Suddenly, a red bar appeared at the bottom of my EFS. I turned and dodged to the left. A heavy metal rod slammed down next to me. The rod was big enough to have rendered me unconscious, easily. I drew the 10mm and began pulling the trigger as fast as I could. The mare wore a shocked expression as seven rounds tore her torso to pieces. I turned. Another red bar had appeared.

A pony with a blowgun stepped lightly around a corner. Several darts bounced off my armor. I activated SATS and queued four shots, one to each limb. The mare had tried to run, but the lead bullets found their marks and the mare went down.

I let out a battle cry as I race down the hall after the Overmare, but She had disappeared. Two hooves and a piece of powdered cloth shot out of somewhere and grabbed my head. The cloth was pressed against my muzzle. My vision started to go black. It was completed by something hard smashing into the back of my head. There was a brief jolt of pain, then everything faded to black.

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for reading. If you liked feel free to leave a comment telling why. If you didn't tell me why not. Every bit of constructive criticism goes a long way. Thank you.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	27. Chapter 27

I knew that something was amiss before I even opened my eyes. There was a tension, like that feeling when you know you messed up, and you don't know what to do next. I had felt like I was so close. I should have shot her in the commons room. No, I should have brought my sword and jabbed it through her back while she was leading me through the halls. I should've brought my shotgun and turned her head to mush the moment I saw her. I took a deep breath. None of that mattered. What's done is done.

I opened my eyes. I saw The Dealer sitting on a desk with two boots propped up. He was staring at me wordlessly, holding a fan of cards in one hoof. That pony skull was locked onto me. The two red dots from the sockets began to pierce my very being. I mentally fought back. A chill went down my spine. I only saw him for a moment. Then I blinked, and he was gone.

Upon looking around, I was in an office, the Overmare's office. All of my weapons and armor had been removed, so I sat just as naked and unprotected as I had in my cell. I was in a corner, strapped into a heavy metal chair. Seriously, why would anypony need a chair made out of steel? In addition to the chair, I was inside of a small bubble that glowed faintly pink, yet was translucent enough to see clearly through. Upon looking around, I was the only pony in the office.

The Overmare's office was unlike the Overstallion's. It was noticeably darker. There were no trinkets on shelves, no paintings, and no displays. The only thing to adorn any of the walls, was a large Stable-Tech insignia on the wall adjacent to me.

I sat alone for about five minutes, until I heard a door open. In walked the she-demon that was the Overmare, holding a clip-board. She barely acknowledged me, despite my glare. She set the clip-board down on the desk and sat in her chair, putting her forehooves together. Her horn illuminated, and I was picked up and centered in front of her, still inside the shield.

I tried to fight her, but there was a charm around my horn preventing the use of magic, and my thrashing just knocked the heavy chair over on top of me. So there I sat, face down on the ground, with the Overmare looking down on me like a principle would a delinquent.

"Hello, UP-26. Are these conditions more to your liking?" she asked.

"It's definitely more private," I groaned.

"Indeed," she said, sitting more upright. "Now, there is something very important that I want you to understand..." She stood up on her hind-legs and stood her front two on the top of the desk. "YOU! ARE! NOT! A! FREE! PONY!" She pounded the desk with her hooves to punctuate each word.

"The only reason that you are still alive, is because I like you, UP-26," she continued. "You are very unique, you know that?"

"Is that because I managed to avoid you this long?" I asked, sarcastically.

"No, it's because you are somewhat exceptional, even for a stallion," she replied. "Nonetheless, you are a stallion, and you are inside my stable. You are more bound to me than the mares who will be punished for their betrayal. And do you know why?"

"Because you're a lunatic who thinks the world is her playground?" I replied.

"Because this is my stable. Stable-Tech gave this stable to my family to rule as they saw fit. This stable's survival is my responsibility. Now how can I run this stable if everypony is all over the place doing their own things? No! This stable is mine, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"What if I killed you?" I proposed.

"You? You've been trying to escape me for weeks, now you want to try to attack me? Hm! Hardly. I've got you. Now, I just need to round up the rest of your little coup, assess the damage, and make repairs," The Overmare concluded with a smile.

"You know, you toasted half of us with what you did in medical," I informed her. "Half of the stallions are dead. The rest have tasted freedom. If you try to take it back from them, they will all die before resubmitting to you. And of you do, Celestia forbid, capture some, they will do whatever they can to escape!"

"We shall see. I will deal with them," the Overmare said with a shrug. "But first, I have to deal with you. Because I like you, I will give you a choice."

She set me upright, then opened one of the drawers in her desk. The Overmare levitated out a pistol. It looked to be at least a .45 caliber. She also levitated out a gag and a pair of very fancy hoof-cuffs. I immediately recognized them. The Overmare had one of the most perverted minds of anypony in the stable. When a stallion was selected for her service, it wasn't unusual for them to go to rehab afterwards. Unfortunately, the Overmare must have had a fondness for me, because she would check me out for weeks at a time. I glared back at her, then I ignored her.

I sat erect and emotionless, no longer acknowledging her presence. I did not make a choice. I was a free pony. She would need to kill me before I willingly bound myself into servitude again for any reason.

"Well...?" she asked after a moment.

I still did not respond.

"Somepony has to make a decision. If you don't then I'll make it for you," she said.

The Overmare examined the objects closely. She knew that if she killed me, then all of her trouble would end. She could cast my lifeless body to the stallions, and they might come crawling back to her. If she spared me, then I could escape. However, until then, I would become her toy. My life would return to her plaything. No longer her enemy, what threat would I pose then? She could broadcast my bondage to cripple the stallions' morale.

She was looking at the pistol. "I wasn't going to let you die, you know. I was going to come rescue you at two hours. No pony would have questioned it, because I am the Overmare. You would have loved me for sparing your life. I would have brought you up here where you could have been my husband, as it were. I cried when I thought you had run out unto the Wasteland."

I looked at her, disgusted.

"But now you've gone and made a mess of things. I'm afraid I couldn't let you walk around here as you pleased, hmm? You'd just go back to that pit of a stable and try to usurp my power again. This puts me in tight spot, you see. I don't want to kill you," she held up the gun. "But I also don't want to risk your inevitable escape," she held up the chains.

"Then again, that thing you do with your tongue... ooh," she shuddered. "Ah well, I guess we can just go with it and see what happens,"

The pistol was returned to the drawer. A blindfold appeared and the Overmare dropped her shield. I started squirming again, trying anything to get away.

"No!" I snarled. "Get back! Buck you, Overmare! Buck you!" Unable to see, I clamped my jaw shut. Slowly and one at a time, the clamps on the chair released. I felt magic grip my limbs as they were forced together, the hoof-cuffs closed around my fore and hind legs. I started to thrash and fight, but to no end. The Overmare gripped my head and eased my jaw open.

"Buck you!" I barked, right as the gag prevented any further cursing.

"Easy, easy there, UP-26. I'll take good care of you. Just you wait and see... Now where is that spell?"

I fell off the seat and onto the floor, then began the futile effort of trying to get away. I wriggled like a worm forwards, while the Overmare opened and closed her drawers looking for something. I moved towards where I remembered the door was.

"Oh no you don't," she said. Magic gripped me as I was pulled back towards her desk. She sat me back in the chair.

"I just need to find this one thing," the Overmare said. "Give me a moment."

I sat for a moment as another idea began to form in my mind. I began to prod my horn with my hooves. Maybe if I could just get that charm off...

"Aha! Here it is. This is an old spell, so bear with me." I heard the magic from her horn begin. I awaited something terrible. It never came.

"There we go, perfect," she said.

I lowered my guard. Had something happened? Immediately, I felt the jab of a needle in my neck, along with a familiar sensation. The painkiller, med-X, was not unusual for stallions to have administered. Not every mare was very gentle when we were checked out. There was something else about it though.

I panicked as I was no longer able to feel my hooves. The numbness ran throughout my body. A tingling sensation erupted, then I was unable to move anything at all. My heart rate slowed, and my breathing steadied, yet I was fully aware of what was happening.

"Now how do you feel?" she asked me.

"What did you just do to me?" I tried to ask. My mouth didn't move.

"Good," the Overmare concluded.

I was lifted out of the seat by her magic. It was definitely an interesting sensation to be lifted my somepony else's telekinesis.

We went across the room, through a doorway, down a hall, and into another room. This one was a bedroom. I was hurled onto the bed and I heard a light-switch turn off. The bed was soft and plush. I knew this bed, and I knew this room. I now had one just like it. I didn't remember all of the things that were in the room, though. The Overmare had a collection of things that I had never seen before.

The gag was taken out of my mouth and replaced by some sort of bit and bridle. The hoof-cuffs were attached to heavy chains, which were in turn attached to the bedposts. A collar was placed around my neck, and attached to the headboard.

So that was my situation: captured, bound, and gagged. This was a very unpleasant situation, to say the least. This was going to be a long night, especially since I had no idea how to fall asleep like this. The sensation was maddening, to know what was happening, and to be powerless to do anything about it.

After a few more minutes of pounding against the walls of my mind, I decided to give it rest. This was going to happen. I elected to take it and move on. Maybe I could escape when she brought me food. She would bring me food, right? If she truly liked me as much as she boasted, then she wouldn't let me starve, would she?

Then she began to do things, once I was securely fastened. Call me morbid, but I tried to keep myself distracted by creating mental images of how I would kill her. The only thing I was able to do was shed a single tear amid the sweat and grunting.

* * *

 **Chapter 27 is complete. How about that? What do you think of where this is headed? How do you like this portrayal of the Overmare? Our stallion has gotten himself into a sticky situation. How do you think he'll get out of it? Feel free to leave a comment and thank you so much for reading.**

 **/)**


	28. Chapter 28

I lost track of how long I had been there, chained to the Overmare's bed. My mouth was dry and tasted of iron. The Overmare had lasted far longer than I thought she would have, going on for hours before finally getting tired and going to sleep. I remained conscious, however, waiting for her spell to wear off.

She had slept for a long while. Without the ability to control my body, I tried to meditate like I used to in the cells. I found it an effective way to hone my magical ability. It was difficult without use of my horn or the ability to shut my eyes beyond the occasional blink.

Eventually the Overmare woke up. Expecting another round of unpleasant treatment, I was surprised when she gave me a soft peck on the forehead, then disappeared with a simple, "I have to go to work now. Tah Tah."

It was another long while before her spell started to wear off. As it did, I pulled on the chains and began to try to work my muscles. Ooh, they were stiff. Nonetheless, I pulled and thrashed trying to get a hoof-hold. I groaned and hissed through the bit and yanked on the collar. It was no use. The chains were strong and the binds were tough.

I was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. Not that it was anything new, but a pony can only take so much, as I had learned previously. I held my head low and began to doze, still bound to the bed.

I heard the shuffle of cards.

Looking up, I saw The Dealer sitting on a dresser, his hat obscuring his face.

"Well well well. What do we have here?" The Dealer taunted. I just glared at him.

"The great Overstallion of Stable 28, or a lowly slave caught in a spider's web, hmm?"

"Hut hoo you hunt?" I snapped at him, around the bit.

"You always think this is about me... who am I? What do I want? That's noble of you to think of me like that, but that's not why I'm here. You should be asking yourself those questions."

"Hi are you here hen?" I questioned.

"I don't really know. In the grand scheme, you're story isn't too remarkable. A runaway slave trying to get his freedom, I've seen it a thousand times out in the wasteland, and ponies out there are far worse off than you folks in here. Even then, it always ends one of three ways. The pony gets killed, gets away, or gets captured. I'm sure you can imagine how this is going. I guess you could say I came to talk to you for a bit. If you don't want to talk, then I'll just leave. Best of luck to ya then."

He started to fade away, leaving me all alone again.

"Hait!" I called.

"What?" he answered.

"Hon't go!" I replied.

"Why not?"

"hecause, I'm hoing to het away," I said.

The Dealer shook his head slowly. " I don't think so." He paused. "I was sure rootin' for ya pal. You had a winning deck. Presented with an opportunity to force your opponent to fold, and you didn't take it. Well, it happens sometimes, even to the best of us."

"Hild Card!" I called out at him.

He grunted. "A wild card? Do you have a joker up your sleeve? What could that be, hmm? Green? Cinder? Orange, or should I call him Puppydog now? No matter, none of them can help you."

"Escah'," I said.

"Escape? In case you haven't noticed, you're in chains meant to withhold creatures much touger then you. That witch sure knows her stuff. Speaking of witches, it has been a while since we've seen that pony from surveillance, hasn't it. Perhaps she's your wild card. No, I doubt it."

"Re-deal," I called to him.

"I'm not the one who dealt this situation. This was you're own doing. You're playing you're own game right now, and you're losing. That's not my problem."

"So you hon't hel' he?" I asked.

"No, I won't help you. If I went around helping all of the little ponies of the wasteland, then nothing would ever get done. Not that I even can help you."

"Hut hoo you hean?"

"In case you haven't noticed, you're the only one who can see me. Surely I'm just a figment of your imagination."

I eyed him a moment.

"No, you're real," I told him.

"Well thank you for the sentiment, but you should check the facts. Maybe you stallions really are that stupid. No wonder the mares were able to subdue you."

Okay that crossed a line.

"Ho huck yoursel' " I replied. "Hoo hon't heed to he such a jerk!"

At that moment, the door opened. In trotted a cloaked figure. She looked about the room for a moment, then spoke in a hushed tone. "Who were you talking to?" I noticed that The Dealer was gone. I didn't reply.

She shrugged, then produced a screwdriver. At first, I though she was going to something that the Overmare would've done with the screwdriver. I was pleased when she began to loosen the chains enough for me to slip my hooves out. I noticed her red coat when the cloak fell away from her hooves.

When I started to pull myself free, she grabbed my limbs and whispered into my ear. "Not yet."

I knew that voice.

"The Overmare has crossed a line. Somepony she likes very much will be in here soon. That's your chance to escape. Kill her and get away. But not before then," she concluded. Before she left, the mare pulled a large pistol, .50 caliber or 12.7mm, and hid it, along with three reloads, under the bed. Finally, soundlessly, she edged her way back to the door and left.

I sighed, still in my bondage, and all alone in the Overmare's dark chamber.

About an hour and a half after the cloaked mare left, the Overmare returned. She had a platter of various fruits and vegetables, along with a bowl of noodles and a Sparkle-cola.

My dry mouth began to water as she approached. She noticed.

"Oh you like that do you?" she said. "Good, because mama brought this just for you."

The Overmare climbed up onto the bed and laid down next to me. She held the tray in front of me and began to feed me like a child. She wouldn't even let me out of the restraints to eat. What would happen when I needed to relieve myself?

The fruit were good and the vegetables were refreshing. The noodles were warm and felt good after the last couple of hours. I didn't care. I ate what was presented to me, biding my time for the optimal escape.

I could have wrenched my hooves free and strangled the Overmare right here, but that wouldn't be right. Somepony of her vileness and in her position has to be put down correctly. We finished the meal, and she poured the sweet, sweet Sparkle-Cola down my throat to wash it down.

Setting the tray aside, the Overmare laid there a moment, just being next to me. I fought the urge to fight her right here. At last she got up.

"What is this?" she asked, examining my leg closely. My heart rate accelerated and her eyes drifted close to the shackles holding me. If she found out that they had been loosened, then I would need to be ready. I tensed and got ready to fling the bindings off and pounce on her.

"Huh," she said with a shrug, "Must be nothing. I hope you enjoy our time together as much as I do. If I were anypony else without the privilege to serve me like you do, I'd be pretty jealous," she said. I glared at her.

"I have to go now. Somepony nice will be here soon. I do hope you'll treat her as well as you treat me," she concluded, and with a toss of her mane trotted lightly out the door.

I found myself waiting again, waiting for something to happen. Faintly I heard the shuffle of cards, but never did see The Dealer again. I was soon dozing again, and must have fallen asleep, because I was jolted awake when the door opened again.

Two mares entered the room. I recognized the teal one as being the pony standing behind the security chief at my meeting with the Overmare, the deputy chief. She was wearing a ceremonial uniform. With her was a yellow pony who I assumed was just a friend, wearing a regular stable-tech jumpsuit.

"Ooh, the Overmare was right. She did catch him," said the second mare.

"Oh, the Overmare is so good to me," said the first. "She said that once I'm Chief, I'll get to pick a stallion out for myself too. She'll even let us share sometimes!"

I watched as the two began to undress before me.

"How can you be so certain that the Overmare will make you chief?" the second one asked.

"I just know. I'm more loyal than that incompetent lump we have now. All of this stuff going on is her fault. If I had been Security Chief sooner, none of this would have happened," the first one answered. "Also, she promised that it would happen. Praise the Overmare!"

"Praise the Overmare," the second one echoed.

Together, they slid into the bed, cranking me up just a little bit to allow room for one of them to slide underneath me, and the other to lay on top of me. I had to be careful not to slip out too soon.

I made my move once they were busy. Distracted with other things, neither mare noticed when I eased my hooves out of the links. They also thought nothing of it when I wrapped my hooves around the deputy.

I began to squeeze.

The mare's eyes went wide when she finally realized what was going on. With my hooves around the first mare's throat, I twisted off the bed, breaking her neck and back.

The second mare sat up and started to scream as blood poured from the wounds on the first mare's injuries. It was messy, and not as effective as I had hoped it would have been. The mare was still alive, and clearly in a lot of pain.

I reached under the bed and grabbed the large 12.7mm pistol. I activated SATS on my pip-buck. It had required a voice command to remove, which I had been unable to provide under the Overmare's spell. It showed a ninety-five percent hit chance to put two into the injured mare's head and third into the screaming mare's torso. She was now running for the door.

I toggled the spell and executed it. The gun kicked like a mule and hit the pony with enough force to send her corpse sprawling across the floor. The second mare was tossed from her hooves by the large bullet.

When the spell had expired. I stood and pried the bridle from my face, the bit from my mouth, and the charm from my horn.

I stood over the second mare and put the pistol to her head, time flowing as if I were in SATS again. I had already shot her once, and she was down. The yellow pony had stopped screaming. I saw her face, pleading, begging me to spare her. I knew she wasn't going to be hurting anypony anytime soon. Even so, she and her friend had hurt me. An image of the Overmare flashed through my mind as I pulled the trigger and put the .50 caliber piece of lead between her eyes. I saw the light fade as her head fell back, lifeless.

I picked myself up and trotted out of the dark room into the hallway. There was a security guard who had heard the shots.

"Halt!" she cried as she held up her shotgun.

I raised my gun and shot once, without stopping or slowing. The mare collapsed. I wasn't sure if I had killed her of if her armor had protected her. I took her mask, without looking down as I passed by.

I was done being a plaything. If the Overmare offered me that choice again, I would be taking the bullet.

* * *

 **Oooh, the Overmare has really made our stallion angry. I really appreciate all the love that this story is getting. When I first started it, I thought it was going to be a one-shot. Thank you all so much for reading and commenting. Really, the comments are what help give me the motivation to keep writing this, so thank you.**

 **/)**


	29. Chapter 29

Rampage. Berserk. Rage. Destruction.

I'd lost it. My mind dwelt on the Overmare. I found a staircase and went down, down towards the commons room and on to the stallion's stable. I would go, gather my ponies, and we would beat the Overmare. My intention was clear now. Once I might have been content if the Overmare had simply left us alone, but her latest endeavor showed that she could not be trusted with even the proximity of free ponies.

When I made it down to the right level, I exited the staircase and proceeded down the halls. The mares were starting to come out of their hiding places, whether they were hungry or simply because their jobs needed to be done, I wasn't sure. The barely acknowledged me as I went along, clad only in a security mask.

Soon, I made it to the barricades. That was when I lost it. I started to kill. The first group of ponies was a group of four who were blocking a hallway. I crept up behind them and managed to snap the first one's neck. When the other three turned, I activated SATS. The three shots each had a ninety-five percent hit chance. The .50 caliber pistol made quick work, given their light armor.

Some ponies in adjacent rooms had been alerted by the pistol's roar. Some security began to fill the hallway. I heard gunshots from elsewhere, too. Most of security was probably distracted with whatever that was.

I really didn't care. As I shot into anypony that dare crossed my path, I felt no remorse. I saw the Overmare on every one of them. I felt her as she touched my hooves as I stepped over the bodies, some still alive. The few security ponies shot at me, but didn't hit me. I reloaded and kept firing. Security kept coming.

As I finished off the fourth clip, they finally stopped. I looked around at the over a dozen ponies around me. I sat down on the ground, dropping my gun. I looked at my hooves through the tinted mask. Was this what I had become?

The blood pooled around the ponies' bodies from the large holes torn in their hides. I started shaking. Tears streamed down my cheeks. Was this some side effect of the spell that the Overmare had used? I didn't know, though I doubted it.

I curled up into a ball against the wall to let all of the pent-up emotions from the last couple of days out. Thank Celestia I didn't lose control around the non-combatants.

I cried. I cried for the Overmare. I cried for the stallions. I cried for Rose. I cried for Gadget and Lens Cap. I cried for the ponies who lay dying, groaning around me. I was a young stallion, strong and healthy, yet here I was bawling like a filly. I continued to cry for some time.

What difference was there between the Overmare and myself, if I was willing to kill her ponies just as soon as she was mine? No, the killing needed to stop.

I looked up from my pity-party. A plan began to form in my head. The Overmare didn't deserve to run a stable, and they were right. The stallions don't have a chance against her. Any time now, she would figure out a way to get past the stable's defenses and get to us, just like she did before. Just like she did to Harvest.

I pulled myself to my hooves and grabbed my gun. I should have run away from security, now they were dead. Why did they have to die?

I left that mess behind. I needed to get back to the stallions. There was a way we could end all this soon, and we could go back to living instead of fighting.

As I rounded a corner, I flinched as two four ponies clad in maintenance jumpsuits halted in their tracks. They'd been in a firefight. Scorch marks on their coats and several bullet wounds was evidence enough for that.

In an instant, I raised my pistol. They raised their strange-looking rifles.

My gun went 'click' before they were able to get theirs readied.

"You're coming with us!" one of them barked.

The four of them began to move on me. I chuckled, then tossed the gun away as I turned tail and tried to run. They were faster, however, and I crashed to the floor as one pounced and tackled me to the ground.

I teleported a short distance away and tried to keep running. A second pony brought me to the ground again. After another quick teleport, I heard a strange 'ping' sound from behind me, and a sharp pain tore through both of my left legs. Suddenly, they wouldn't hold me up anymore. I collapsed under my own weight. My mask came off and went rolling down the hall.

I turned to face them. I felt like an animal being hunted as I turned and tried to push myself away from these four with my right hooves.

"Nice shot, Wire," said the first pony.

"Thanks. This ol' gal never ceases to amaze," said Wire, flaunting her gun. The gun was not a regular military or security issue. It was big, and covered with little gadgets and electronics. "I made her myself."

The second pony rolled her eyes. "We know you did. You brag about it all the time."

"Well this is just something I'm proud of. Don't be such a bonehead about it," Wire retorted.

"Whatever, this one isn't with the Overmare. Let's get him up to Gadget. I dunno how many males are left. Let's keep as many safe as we can." said the first.

"Ooh! If we're allowed to, I call first dibs!" cried the fourth pony. She was hurt the worst. It looked like one foreleg was only being held on by an improvised bandage.

I felt the fear that I'd felt when the Overmare pulled out the hoofcuffs.

"If you lay one hoof on my flank, I'll rip your other leg off!" I snapped at the crippled mare.

The four looked at me. I stared back, clutching my injured legs underneath me.

"And what gives you the right to talk to us like that? No pony addressed you, so you don't address anypony. Understand?" The second mare scolded.

"I don't give two bucks about what gives me the right to do what! I'm the Overstallion, and you are going to take me back to my stable, or I will make sure each of you will never walk again! Do YOU understand?" I said, harshly.

"Overstallion?" Wire asked as she looked to the others. They shrugged.

"If you are the Overstallion, then we really should take you to Gadget," said the first mare.

"I could pop your heads with a thought. Take me to commons." I threatened.

"What? no mare has magic that powerful. How can a stallion do it?" asked the crippled pony, who I now noticed was a unicorn.

"Well, he can teleport," said the second pony.

"Doesn't matter," snapped the first. "If you do that, then you lay here until you bleed out. There's lots of medical supplies in maintenance. We'll take you there. Enough said. Gizmo, take Sorbet. I'll take this pony. Wire, you watch our flank okay, I don't want to get shot in the back."

Gizmo, the second pony who had spoken, propped Sorbet, the crippled pony, onto her back. Wire picked me up and laid me across the first mare's back. I had finally been taken down, and now I was at their mercy. They bound my hooves and patched my wounds with what they had, as well as blindfolded me. I remained on guard.

The five of us proceeded down a staircase a good distance. I assumed the elevators were still offline.

"So what's been going on here?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" replied another pony.

"Well, I haven't exactly been in-tune with stable event for last few hours, so what exactly has been going on?" I continued.

"Well, the Overmare has control of most of the elevator shafts, so she uses those to get up and down. Not that they work, but she has equipment that allows her ponies to go wherever."

I knew that. I remembered the ponies hanging on wires in the elevator shafts in medical.

"Oh," I replied.

"Yeah, so it's not good. We managed to close the blast doors in the maintenance access shaft to keep them out, but there's fighting on every level above that. They think only about six-hundred of us are left," said the first pony.

"Six-hundred?" gasped the others.

"Yep, six-hundred. A lot of ponies are dead and its only been five days. In-fighting and tight spaces don't go well together," the first pony answered.

"What about you? What's been going on with the stallions? I heard you took a lot of the medical ponies with you when you left. How did you manage that?" Sorbet asked.

"Yeah. I heard you've found a new stable. You said you wanted to go back there, right?" asked Wire.

"I tell you what. You tell me where your base is and I'll tell you where mine is." I answered.

"Fair enough," said the first pony. When there was a pause, I realized they weren't going to tell me.

"We've escaped the Overmare, though I don't know how long it will last," I replied.

"Why aren't you there then, trying to fortify and wait this thing out?" Wire suggested.

"I was, but then I got the bright idea that I could negotiate with the Overmare. I though we could reach an impasse, then she'd just leave us alone," I said.

"Well that was stupid. Why would you go and do something like that?" asked Wire.

"I don't know. I just thought that maybe something would work." I added.

"And how did that turn out?" Sorbet questioned.

I bit my tongue and glared at her.

"Okay, not well, I see. She's a tyrant who needs to be removed. At least we agree on that." Sorbet concluded.

The rest of the trip, the four of them talked about other ponies. They were apparently close friends. Sorbet had been a cook, specializing in desserts. Wire, or Hotwire, was an electrician, and Gizmo was just a tinker. I never found out the name of the first pony, she was just as quiet as I was, only speaking up when the others asked our input on something.

Nonetheless, Soon we stopped and I heard a door open. We stepped through, then they pulled my blindfold off.

* * *

 **Okay, chapter 29. As of my writing this chapter, this story is over one-thousand views. Thank you so much for reading and leaving your reviews. Every one helps me keep writing, so thank you for your support and time in reading this story. Hopefully it's enjoyable.**

 **Thanks.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	30. Chapter 30

It was pushing one week since the incident. Life in the stable had stabilized on a seeming stalemate.

For Rose, that meant that things were beginning to become routine again, especially as the ex-maintenance ponies began to figure out how to handle plants properly. Leave it to the tinkers to throw together some doodad to automate things. Rose would wake up, eat, go to work, eat, go back to work, then find something to occupy the rest of her day.

Many of the gardeners under Rose's watch were doing quite well.

This morning, however, Gadget herself came to inspect the gardens.

Rose looked up from the desk in her office as Gadget trotted in, other department leaders following her.

"Good morning Ms. Rose." Gadget said, politely.

"Good Morning, Gadget," Rose replied. "I was just getting the morning report ready. Is everything alright? Can I help you with something?" Rose eyed the group of ponies nervously.

"Oh, them? No, we were just taking care of some other business on the way over, it's no matter. I was just stopping by to see how things were going," Gadget replied. A few of the other ponies stepped back outside, closing the door. One of the mares that stayed, wearing a white coat, eyed the planters through Rose's window curiously.

"Things are going well, the soil down here is twice as fertile as the soil in the main stable. There are already sprouts in some of the planters," Rose said, proudly.

"Right, I'm sure you know full well what you are doing. I have full confidence in you. I was just wondering when we can begin harvesting," Gadget stated.

"Harvest? That takes weeks! Months if done properly! These plants are starting from seeds. They need to mature and grow, just a pony does. It takes time," Rose explained.

"Well, unfortunately we don't have much of that. It seems that the Overmare suspected us, or we have a traitor among us. I not sure which. The issue now, is that three-quarters of the food stores have been poisoned,"

"Poisoned!?" Exclaimed Rose.

"I'm afraid so," said the unicorn in the white coat. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Fresh Cut. I was the stable's bladesmith, that's a pony who makes knives, scissors, swords, and other sharp objects. When things hit the pot, I was appointed to be the head-chef."

"Rose, Gardening Chief," Rose introduced.

"Great, now that you two are acquainted, back to business." Gadget urged. "We need to find a solution to the or we're all doomed. There's over one-hundred and fifty ponies in here that need to eat, and we've lost almost all of our food. Is there away we can have results by next week?" Gadget asked.

"I don't see how. Even if we used potions, we may be able to get produce in a month, but it won't be the best." Rose said.

"We'll have to try it. If you need anything let me know. If you know the potion recipe, I can run it by the chemistry stations and we can get you your potions," Gadget said.

"What about unicorn magic?" Fresh Cut suggested.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong," Rose began. "But I'm pretty sure unicorns have limits. It will take a powerful, sustained spell to crank out crops in a week. Spells aren't like potions, which permeate throughout the soil. There were some mares trying to accelerate growing just two weeks ago. They didn't get anywhere."

"Well if anypony can do it, I'm sure Starbeam can manage it," Fresh Cut suggested.

"Perhaps," said Gadget.

"Any crop rushed like that will not be good. Though it should be good enough to be a ration, it will be bland in flavorless," Rose explained.

"That shouldn't be a problem, I'm sure anypony would argue that eating bland food is much better than staring to death, am I right FC?" asked Gadget.

"Yes," agreed Fresh Cut.

"Good, then if that's settled, I'll fetch Starbeam right over so you three can get the details figured out. In the meantime, I would like the details of the poisoning to kept quiet, no use in starting a panic."

With that, Gadget left the room, leaving Fresh Cut and Pink Rose to work. In the time before Starbeam arrived, Rose gave Fresh Cut a tour of her department, explaining the basics of irrigation and crop rotation.

Starbeam arrived and after joining the other two ponies, they began to discuss using magic to enhance the production rate of the crops. They reached a conclusion where Starbeam would have a spell ready in about a week. If it worked, then harvest would be ready in moments thereafter. If it failed, then the mini-stable's first harvest would be failure. It was a risk they would have to take.

Starbeam returned to her station in the science division to begin her study of the spell. Fresh Cut went to the kitchen to oversee dinner preparations.

Rose broke for lunch. She was hungry, having skipped breakfast, and helped herself to a bottle of sparkle-cola and an MRE. She had just sat down and began to eat, when she heard a commotion coming from the tunnel that served as a passage to the main stable. The guards parted to allow a beaten and bloody pony, accompanied by four other mares who were also in less than favorable condition.

The medical ponies had already seen to them. It seemed to be the only reason the bound pony was walking. Rose recognized him at once, his red coat matted with blood and gore, yet there was a fierce determination in his eyes. The stallion, though chained, held his head high.

There was something else, though, that Rose saw.

Rage.

Not like the uncontrollable sort of rage that animals possess, not like the way insects sometimes attack Roses's vegetables and herbs. No, this was a careful rage, born out of hurt and misery. The kind of rage that can only exist in somepony who would rather die than experience what he had again.

The stallion looked around the room that served as an atrium, cafeteria, meeting room, and junction. He was looking for something. His eyes locked with Rose's, and she felt as though she might burst. This was the pony responsible for the collapse off all she'd ever known, and he was a stallion! A stupid stallion! "The only thing he's good for," said Rose's mother, once long ago, "is making us feel good. It gives us a reprieve from the monotony of stable life."

If his purpose was to make life in the stable less boring, then he had certainly succeeded, though even as a filly, Rose had understood what the Overmare had said.

They locked eyes for a moment. A sense of understanding flashed, then relief. Had he been worried about her? She returned his gaze. It had lasted but a moment. Then he looked away, having found what he was looking for.

The four mares who were accompanying him led him through a door, no doubt leading to Gadget. Whatever he had done, his fury had been directed at the Overmare, as had Gadget, if the two of them can reach an agreement, then perhaps all hope is not lost. Maybe she can see him again.

Disturbed by what she had seen, she picked up her meal and brought it to her quarters. Typically meals were taken in the cafeteria, though nopony had protested when she ate elsewhere, so she did it anyway.

Having finished her lunch, Rose was about to return to her work, when a knock at the door signaled the arrival of her friend, Circuit Board.

"Hello, Rose. Can I come in?" Asked Circuit Board.

"Yeah, sure," Rose replied.

Circuit Board entered. The quarters that Rose had been given were small, barely big enough for a pony to stand wide, and about four pony-lengths long. Add a desk, a bed, and a dresser, and there really is not that much space left. A big change from the plush, pink, beautiful get-up presented by the Overmare's stable.

"So ya heard, huh?" Circuit Board asked.

"Heard?" Rose replied.

"Yeah, of the stallion Hotwire and them found? Apparently he would have killed them had his gun been loaded," Circuit explained.

"Really? Wait, why would a pony be so careless as to run around the stable without a loaded gun right now?" Rose inquired.

"From what they say, he wasn't being careless. He ran out of shots," Circuit explained. "I know what you're thinking, but its not him, at least he said he's not."

"Who?"

"You know, him. The stallion you protected, the ringleader," said Circuit Board.

Rose decided to trust that he knew what he was doing and rolled with it. "It's not him? I was really hoping it was."

"I know," said Circuit Board, sitting on the bed next to Rose and putting one hoof around her. "But he said that that one is okay. He said that the stallions have escaped the Overmare for now. Tch, Celestia knows how he managed that."

"If you knew him," Rose said. "You would understand that he's capable of that."

"He seems like an amazing pony," Circuit Board added.

"Well, I haven't met a bad stallion yet," Rose chuckled.

Circuit grinned for a moment. "You haven't seen them fight yet, have you?"

"No, I was in my quarters when you came and brought me here. I haven't seen the fighting."

"I was working in medical," Circuit began. "There was a terminal that had been on the fritz. Now normally that's not my sort of thing to handle. I've always been more on the hardware side of computers. Even so, I was working there, when this big warrior came trotting by. I couldn't see who it was, and quite frankly, I didn't care. I jumped out of the pony's way. Once the pony had passed, I was curious.

"I was sure that security had been summoned. Curious, I followed the thing until I saw it staring through a window at an operating room. For a moment, I thought it would turn an leave. But by Celestia, I swear I saw something behind the visor. Then the pony blasted open the door. Right in front of me, the pony killed everypony in the operating room, besides a single stallion.

"I knew that something had happened. I high-tailed it straight down to Gadget, who told me to come here. I didn't want to leave you and Sye alone in the stable, so I tried to go back and get you two. Sye was on duty, I couldn't get to her. Fighting had already broken out on medical. Celestia have mercy, I didn't know ponies could fight so fiercely. I only caught a glimpse of the firefight, but I must have seen a dozen ponies go down, maybe more.

"That's when I forgot about Empty Syringe. I haven't heard anything on her, but if she's dead, she probably went down in that fight. I came to find you and got us both here as quickly as I could."

There was momentary silence.

"If things are still that hot out there, then thank Celestia we're in here," said Circuit Board.

"Well," started Rose. "What would you do if you were kept in a cage and were only allowed to come out every so often? Years of that kind of isolation wears on a pony. All those stallions knew at that time was to do what they're told."

Circuit Board looked at her hooves.

"Do you think Gadget would let be go with him?" Rose asked.

"What? No way! We need you here to be a gardener!" Circuit Board exclaimed.

"Not for long, Starbeam is working on a spell to accelerate the growth of the crops. If it works, then you won't need me any more," Rose said.

"Ah, so Gadget told you about our little problem?" Circuit guessed.

"Yep, and once it's solved, you won't need gardeners any more," said Rose.

"Well, I should be getting back to Gadget anyway. You need to be careful around the stallions, they're dangerous."

"So are we."

"See ya later," and with that Circuit Board left, and Rose returned to her work. She never heard anything more of the Stallion's visit to the mini-stable.

* * *

 **Hello all my wonderful readers. I am writing this on Christmas Day, so Merry Christmas to you all and Happy Holidays!**

 **Furthermore, thank each and every one of you who put up with thirty chapters of this, and to think I first intended this to be a one-shot. Well thank you so much, and don't forget to leave a review telling your thoughts.**

 **Thanks,**

 **Brohoof /)**


	31. Chapter 31

I saw an earthen tunnel leading up. Behind us, was the grey matte wall of the stable. The only adornment was a combination lock, though there was no visible door. Before me was a tight cavern lit by something that I couldn't see. There were no visible light sources, but there was light enough to see. The stony surface was strange compared to the metal mesh that I was used to under-hoof.

We followed the cavern, until we reached another wall, this one had a large vault door, not quite as big as the main stable door, but still impressive. My one escort who I didn't know the name of went up to a terminal next to the door.

"Medical assistance please," she said.

A moment later the large door opened with a loud grinding sound. A few nurses and a doctor appeared. The doctor had a red cross for a cutie mark, the nurses were improvised from the maintenance workforce. After having dressed my wound, as well as Sorbet's, Gizmo and Gadget led me into their secret base.

Before me was the vast atrium of the hideaway that the engineers had been using to strike at the Overmare. I gasped as I saw the polished steel, fresh paint, and new engineering. It was truly a marvel, carved out of the walls and stone of a Stable-tec fallout shelter. There was artwork, murals, beauty that the rest of the stable lacked. Still, there was something missing. With twelve doorways lining the sides of the room, and a large double door marking the entryway to another room at the far end, the place seemed ready to expand. I was looking forward to meeting with Gadget, but something was amiss.

A thought pierced my mind as my escorts led me around the perimeter, under the catwalks that marked a second story to the structure. I looked around the large room. There, sitting at a table on the far side of the chamber was that lovely, pink, young mare. Rose stared back at me, agape. She had been at lunch, and her food hung limply, as she was frozen mid-bite.

In that moment, I felt relief that she was alright. Surely no harm would come to her here. Gadget would look after her, without a doubt. After all, its not like she was anything like the Overmare. Gadget would not abuse the loyalty of her friends and helpers. Unlike the Overmare, Gadget's loyalty had been earned over time. It was real, not wrought with fear.

I tore my glance away after a heartbeat that felt like a century. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding.

"I know right? Pretty great isn't it?" asked Gizmo. "This has been planned for years. It's been rebuilt and remodeled time and time again."

"Gadget and her predecessors wanted it to be perfect," said Hotwire.

"Predecessors? So the Overmare and the Maintenance Chief have never gotten along, huh?" I asked.

"Nope, not since the first reactor ruptured five years after the stable sealed. They say it almost caused a balefire blast. Could you imagine that? A megaspell inside a stable?" explained Gizmo.

"Well it didn't happen, and we don't have to worry about it any more. The reactor is fixed now," said the mare that I didn't know the name of.

"Yeah, it won't breach, but it never got to working as good as it did," Gizmo countered.

We reached the second door on the left side of the ground floor of the room and entered. It opened with a hiss, and we disappeared from the sight of all in the atrium. Immediately on the right was another door, this one was open. Inside, a blue mare with an electric-yellow mane was leaning over a desk, at which sat an older, brown mare.

The two were looking over something on the desk. They slid the contents under a book as the five ponies entered.

Her office was small, two bookshelves, a desk, two pictures, and a Ministry of Awesome poster were the only adornments.

"Ah, Gizmo, Gadget, welcome back! Oh! Sorbet! Are you alright? Lavender! Did you take good care of your ponies? And who's this? It looks like you all made a friend," the brown mare welcomed.

Lavender! Ha! Now I knew my captors' names: Gadget, Gizmo, Lavender and Sorbet.

"Hello Gadget, I would like to present the Overstallion," said Lavender.

"Overstallion?" Gadget asked.

"Yes, we found him-"

"Pffft! I'm not the Overstallion," I said.

"What?" asked Gizmo. "But you said-"

"I was bluffing. I was trying get you to take me home, but it didn't work," I lied.

"Eh, well still, well found a stallion, and though that you might like to speak with him," said Lavender.

"Of course, of course! How did you find him? Why is he in chains? Get these things off!" exclaimed Gadget.

The chains were removed and Lavender told everything that had happened since they had gone out on patrol. They had gotten into a scuffle with a security detail, which is how Sorbet got hurt, then them stumbling across me while they were on their way back.

"Very good. Circuit, we can finish out discussion later. I will see this stallion now. The rest of you, go rest up. Sorbet, you'll be back in the kitchen tomorrow, 'till that leg heals up. The rest of you will be on the dawn patrol tomorrow. Go on now."

All of the other ponies immediately left me and Gadget alone. The brown mare got up and trotted over to me.

"Welcome, Overstallion," said Gadget, a few moments after the door hissed closed. She took my hoof and shook it eagerly, like one would a particularly valuable business partner, or a good friend.

"Gadget, I must say its a pleasure to finally meet you, but like I just said, I'm not the Overstallion." I said, trying to be regal and diplomatic as possible.

"Oh, please don't lie to me. I know things. You are the Overstallion, and I don't want to waste this opportunity, arguing about your titles," Gadget replied.

"Fine, I am the Overstallion," I admitted. "I've gotta say, I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time."

"As have I. Please, have a seat," Gadget offered. She returned to her desk, while I sat in a chair facing exactly opposite her.

"Now," Gadget began. "I believe that a logical course of action would be for us to form an alliance."

"Oh?" I asked.

"Yes, given that we share a common enemy, the Overmare. You and I have each been fighting her very fiercely, yet as it stands, we seem to be at a standstill. Nopony is getting anywhere, yet the fighting continues. If this keeps up, then everypony will die. You know this, and I know it," Gadget explained

"I'm listening," I said.

"If we combined forces and collaborated our efforts, I believe that we have the capability to defeat the Overmare. It's all already set, I just need to know where your forces are so that we can get you into here and we can fight her together."

"What are your plans?"

"Well, one well thought out drive could end the whole thing," Gadget said. She produced a schematic of the stable, lines were drawn to show areas occupied by the Overmare and by her.

"We keep a lot of pressure on the Overmare's lines, as such, most of her forces are spent trying to keep us from advancing. If we manage to break one point, just one, then we could rush to her quarters and end it. I just don't have the pony power. I'm just a few dozen hooves too short."

"I have a few ponies," I told her. I looked at her map, deep in thought. I could work, the way the stable was laid out, a quick blitz would put just enough ponies behind the front lines, that the end could come swiftly.

"Do you not think the Overmare has reserves?" I asked, remembering the troop guarding the blown-open entrance to the Stallions' Stable.

"I highly doubt it. The Overmare is not the most strategic thinker, and she's not the type of pony to hold back when her authority is questioned," answered Gadget.

I shifted my gaze from the battle-plan and looked at the elder mare. She was nice, caring, and thoughtful. Without a doubt, she was worth every bit of loyalty that her ponies gave her. The hopeful smile on her face showed that she really wanted me to accept her offer. But, there was one more thing...

"What happens after we win? I assume you expect to be declared Overmare?" I questioned.

"That... is my expectation. I have been running this stable for a dear long time. The Overmare doesn't know the first thing about running a stable. She just hides behind her guns and tells ponies what to do."

"What would become of us stallions under your reign as overmare? Would you send us back to our cells? Make us continue our servitude to mares?"

"Well... that can be the only outcome, can it not? What else would the stallions do? They can't just roam as they will."

"Then I am afraid you do not see the reason for our fight."

"Oh, I assure you, I do. You despise the Overmare for the way she treats you. I've seen it. Mares who think they can just beat on you, because you can't do anything back. Its disgusting. I assure you, when I become overmare, that behavior will stop. You will have nicer accommodations, good food, clean water, no drugs..."

"You still miss my point, Ms. Gadget."

"How so?"

"The stallions aren't fighting to have a new Overmare. We don't want to be slaves to the Overmare. Any Overmare. We're fighting for freedom. It doesn't matter what accommodations we have, you could give every stallion quarters equivalent to that of the Overmare, and we'd still fight!" I challenged.

"Then what are we to do? Besides breeding, what are you stallions good for? You can't cook, aren't strong, don't know computers, tools, can't grow food, you'd be burdens on the rest of the stable."

"How do you know that? Since when has a stallion ever been a burden to anypony? Big Macintosh died to save Princess Celestia! Do you think he was a burden?" I argued

"That was a long time ago. It doesn't apply here," Gadget countered.

"Why not? Gadget, we're not going back into those cells. If you're not careful you'll doom the stable that you're supposed to keep running."

"Please, be reasonable, Overstallion. We are, after all, fighting the same fight. We have the same enemy."

"We are not fighting the same enemy. We stallions are fighting against anypony who would dare limit our freedom. You're fighting for control of the stable."

"Okay, but we still have the same enemy. The Overmare must be overthrown."

"I agree. She needs to go, one way or another."

"Then its settled? We'll help each other?"

"Will stallions have to go back to the cell block after it's all over?"

Gadget hesitated this time. She knew that she couldn't have out support if she said yes, but if she said no, then there would be chaos after the Overmare is gone.

She sighed, "Yes."

"Then I will not help you seize the Overmare. However, I won't openly attack you until you try to force us into those cells," I concluded.

The hopeful smile on the elderly mare's face was gone. In its place was a look of pure dismay. With one last hopeful plea, Gadget said, "How do you define this freedom that you're fighting for? It's a very pre-war concept. We're living in a confined underground shelter. Its not exactly the most free environment."

"Freedom..." I began, then looked down, trying to figure out what to say. "I suppose everypony has a certain degree of freedom, some more than others. For example, in my cell, I had the freedom to sit, or to stand; to sleep, or to be awake. It wasn't much, but it was there. The Overmare has the most freedom of anypony in the stable. She can do whatever she wants whenever she wants because there's nopony in authority over her. Do I think a pony is wrong for exercising their freedom to the extent that somepony else's is limited?" I shook my head. "Not at all. They have the freedom to do that. It then falls to the one being limited. It is up to them to decide whether to consent to the limitation, or try to take back the freedom lost. It is their right... no, their duty to stand up for what they have and defend what's theirs"

"So, I suppose our fight is to claim more freedom for ourselves and our sons, which we now have. Now it's our responsibility to hold on to what we've achieved, or die trying."

Gadget was apalled. She looked at the table, unsure of how to respond.

"I do not hate the Overmare, just what she's done," I finished.

Gadget looked back at me. She was obviously conflicted.

"You have given me a lot to think about," she said.

"Maybe we'll talk about this again at a later point. In the meantime, I need to get back to the stallions," I said.

"R-right, of course. But if what Lavender said is true, and you've spent that last few hours with the Overmare, then it would be incredibly rude of my not to offer you a brief respite."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you can have my quarters, I never use them anyway. They're just down the hall, to the right. I have a lot of work to do, you know, running a miniature stable. There'll be a place to sleep, some clean clothes, and food. Er, on second thought use this to sample some food before you take a bite from the processor," Gadget said. She produced a kit that had a skull and crossbones on it, labelled "Poison Detection Kit."

I looked at it and at her questioningly, but she had already produced new sheets a paper and unlocked her door. I mare trotted in.

"Ah, Apple Slice, good to see you. How've you been?" Gadget began.

I left the room, as she moved on with her next appointment, and made my way down to her quarters. I found them untouched. Really, and I thought I never slept. I felt partially guilty about not heading straight back, but I wasn't expecting an offer like this.

Gadget's bed was soft, though not quite to Overpony standard. I shut my eyes and for the first time in a while, got some good sleep.

* * *

 **Okay, chapter 31 is done. What do you all think? Did parts seem rushed? Forced? What are your thoughts on these new developments? Feel free to leave a review. Thank you so much for reading.**

 **/)**


	32. Chapter 32

My slumber was dreamless. When I awoke, I felt rested, relaxed, and healthy. My body ached from the bullet wounds, but the healing potions that the medical mares had given me were like miracles. I reached over to the nightstand, where a shot of med-X sat. The painkiller was common in the stable, most ponies had steady access to it. While it was not usually addictive, there were instances where ponies would hoard stashes of it. They liked to break them out when the males like me were checked out. Apparently it made the experience more interesting.

Anyway, I was relieved as I pulled the cover off the needle and stuck it into my hide. Normally I wasn't a fan of needles, but handling it myself was better than being strapped to a lab table, and having a needle being driven in by ponies wearing masks and lab coats.

I sighed and flopped my head back onto the pillow. The numbness flowed through my limbs, dulling the ache. Oh, it was like the Everafter. I could just lay here forever.

Suddenly, I remembered why I had woken up. My ears pricked at the sound of rushing outside the door. Hooves hammered on the ground as ponies ran back and forth. I heard shouting and arguing, but couldn't make out any words.

Once I was halfway cognizant, I sat upright. Somepony had come in to check on me. I could see through the dimly-lit room that a new Stable-Tech jumpsuit, stallion-cut, was laid over the foot of the bed, and warm oats were sitting on a coffee table in the middle of the room.

I got up, dressed, then quickly downed the oats. Much better than the muck that I had been eating. The orange juice was nice, but I could really use a cold Sparkle-Cola. Maybe soda wasn't a breakfast drink, but, eh, whatever.

I moved toward the lights. As I was crossing the room, they came on, flashing bright red. A heavy siren wailed that signaled something bad was happening. Instantly, any feeling of sleepiness was gone.

A robotic voice came over an intercom. "Attention! Attention! The stable has been breached! Please report to your emergency station immediately to repel striped invaders! This is not a drill!" Immediately I knew what was going on.

I opened the door to Gadget's room and poked my head outside. The hallway was in a similar state as the room, red flashing lights. The previous rushing was gone, as the hall was all but abandoned. Gunshots echoed from every which way. I went back into the room and looked for anything I could brandish as a weapon. At last, I found a .22 with two clips.

"Awe, come on, Gadget. A .22? Why do you have to be so nice?" I complained. Still, it was better than nothing. At least if I got close, I could use the pea-shooter as a club. When I picked it up, my pip-buck beeped. I made a note that it named the weapon ' _Sweet Pea_.'

Holding the weapon in my mouth, I know that's the way earth ponies hold weapons, but honestly, precision will be key with a gun like this, and while my levitation may be strong, it is not precise. I trotted down the hall, sires still wailing.

I saw three ponies clad in the Overmare's security gear walking away from me. I crept up behind them, which wasn't hard given the atmosphere, and activated SATS at point-blank range on two of them. _Sweet Pea_ had a catch to her. Whenever I pulled the trigger once, two pullets came out in immediate succession, yet it only consumed one out of the clip. Magic is great isn't it?

"Roger! Over! Area 4 hallway 6 cl-" said the middle mare as my shots brought down her compatriots. Each shot from SATS went right into the spot where the riot helmet met with their chest and back armor. The shots went true, ripping the mares' throats.

"Oh, shi-" started the third mare as I placed the pistol right into the back of her head. Suddenly, another red bar appeared on my EFS. My eyes turned right as a large mass pummeled into my left side. I hadn't noticed that we were standing in an intersection between two hallways.

The charging mare pinned me against the wall so hard that I felt it through the med-X. Ouch. I raised _Sweet Pea,_ but the larger mare batted it out of my grip. The mare that I had almost shot was examining her comrades. It seemed from the way she slowly got up, that they were dead. Ya know, in hindsight, I probably should have at least tried to talk to them before immediately resorting to violence, but my experiences with ponies in riot suits had not been all that pleasant.

I struggled under the grip of the larger mare. She held me down, studying me for a moment. Then I noticed it, patches of blue mane behind that riot mask and the red coat behind the mask.

"You!" the large mare growled in that voice that I knew.

"You!" echoed the other mare. "You killed them! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna make you pay! You hear me? Pay!"

Tide let up a little, as she turned to the other mare. "Now, now, hold your horses there, Tiger. You know we can't kill stallions. You heard that extinction speech. Besides, this one's has done a lot more than kill a few ponies."

The other mare ignored Tide. She raised a baton that buzzed with electric energy and charged at me with a force that would have crushed me... again. Tide raised one hoof and caught the slightly smaller pony's swing. I considered trying to make a run for it, but I'd have to get under Tide's two legs, not to mention, there was still the third pressing into my shoulder.

"But he killed them! He's a murderer!" she cried.

"Like you haven't killed anypony in the last few days," Tide countered. "Yeah, he did kill them, but he is also a priority, see that between his legs? Word is, there's only a dozen left in the entire stable."

"Say, Tide, why do the maintenance mares get stallions, while we don't?" asked the mare, still sobbing, but starting to calm down.

Okay, this was starting to get out of my comfort zone. I tried to make a break for it, but Tide slammed her hoof square into my chest. She could hold me down with one hoof. Ugh.

"I dunno," said Tide, looking directly into my face. "Why do the maintenance mares get stallions?"

"Buck you!" I spat.

"Wow, temper, temper," Tide taunted. "No wonder he killed your friends, kid's got anger issues. And seems to struggle with some situational awareness. Hmm, it's my job to put ponies in their place, and yours to avenge your friends. What is it that stallions are best at?"

The other mare looked at Tide, and I could imagine them exchanging one of those stupid smiles that ponies get right before they do something stupid. Tide grabbed a pair of hoof-cuffs off of the other mare's belt and cuffed my legs together.

My horn flashed as I tried the teleport option, but I got smacked, breaking the momentary concentration required for the spell. I struggles and squirmed as the two dragged me down the hall. Where were they taking me? A broom closet? Why would... Oh. I carefully slid _Peashooter_ into my tail as they dragged me past the gun.

"Hallway 6 cleared," said Tide over her radio. The two armored mares threw me into the small space. They hung my cuffs on a hook, so my hind legs were off the ground, drew batons once the door was sealed, and began to hit me. I raised my hooves to try to block their blows, but all that got me were bruised legs. The painkiller was starting to wear off, and the bullet wound from yesterday was beginning to ache.

Blood ran from my nose and my body was swollen from the beatings. I panted and glared at my assailants. This was what needed to stop. This was why the stallions were needed to be the ones to come out on top.

"Alright, he seems like he's learned one thing. What do you think, Tide? Time for the next lesson?" said the other mare.

Tide swung her bat around one last time. It struck me under my chin so hard that I spun around. Spit and blood flew from my mouth and speckled the wall. "Yeah, that seems about right," Tide agreed.

Tide lifted me off the hook and dropped me to the ground. I collapsed, my legs unable to hold me up, and rolled onto my back. Tide joined the other mare in removing each other's armor. Once they were done, they picked me up and tore the jumpsuit Gadget had given me off. I tried to struggle, but my muscles wouldn't work the way I wanted them to.

Tide and the other mare began to have their way. I smiled as the other's hind leg bumped my tail. She felt the gun that I had hidden inside. The look of fear upon her face was blissful. For a victim of torture to see the tables turn on their tormentors, and those tormentors know it... suddenly there was strength in my limbs again.

Quick as a flash, I yanked the gun from where it was tangled in my tail, and sighted straight down between my legs, at the mare. With a quick pull of the trigger, I blew the second pony's brains out. Tide, who had been using my horn... for... stuff, opened her eyes and saw what had just happened. I turned the gun on her. She jumped away, and I reveled in the moment. She was scared out of her wits.

Without waiting too long, I pulled the trigger. _Click._ The gun was out of bullets, and all of my extra shots were out in the hall. Tide realized this at the same time as I did, and she pounced on me. I was pinned under her, once again while she put her hooves against my throat. Struggling to breathe, I smacked her in the face with the gun, using it as a club. She barely acknowledged the blow.

My lungs were gasping for air. Tide was going to kill me if I didn't do something fast. I felt around the room for anything that might work. When there wasn't anything, I tried to lift Tide herself. It was hard to keep the concentration on her long enough for the spell to work. Finally, I threw her off me. Gasping for air, I held Tide in the air. She thrashed and tried to get free.

"Let me go! I'm going to crush you! I'm going to kill you!" She screamed at me.

I stood, fluids dripping, and looked at her. I tried to squeeze, but almost lost the levitation.

"You keep screaming all you want. You're not gonna win," I said back. I pushed her towards the hook that had held me not long before. I took a second pair of hoof-cuffs from the pile of riot gear and slapped them on Tide, then I hung her the same way she hung me.

"Just you wait you little buck. I'm going to get promoted, and when I do, not even Celestia herself can stop me from tearing you limb from limb!" Tide barked.

I shuffled through the pile of armor some more. Unfortunately all of it was too big for me. In the pile, however, were two 9mm pistols. Using some of the tools in the broom closet, I cannibalized some good parts from one of them and fixed up the other. I also found six clips of shots.

With this, I started to leave the little closet. I turned and pointed the little pistol at Tide. One shot and that little she-demon would be gone. Just one! There was nopony around. If anypony asked I could say it was the other mare.

With a sigh, I lowered the gun and turned to leave.

"Ha! And that's why you'll be going back to your cells here before long," Tide taunted. " 'cause you're weak. You can't even kill an unarmed pony."

"You're right. I can't kill an unarmed pony, right now. I've done it before. So just remember this the next time we meet. I may not be so generous," I said. I left the closet and resealed the door.

The fighting was still intense in other parts of the stable I heard machine guns, pistols, assault rifles, even some of the more exotic weaponry that Gadget and her ponies had come up with.

I followed the halls, not sure of where I was going. Finally I found a door that looked familiar. I opened it, and the gunshots exploded. The maintenance mares had claimed the upper levels and fired down on the Overmare's ponies from the catwalks. The roar of chainguns and fierceness in the faces of both sides reminded me of the pictures of the Great War I had seen in Rose's books. My little coup had turned the stable into all-out war.

I stayed low and crept up to a fortification. Lead filled the air, and ponies fired and fell on both sides. It seemed like it was getting nowhere fast.

The Overmare's ponies had their eyes up on the catwalks, and the maintenance mares had their eyes on the security ponies. I jumped to the next fortification and one of the mares saw me. The wall behind me sparked as a hail of fire tore into it.

The moment they stopped, I jumped up and ran to the next one, without giving my assailants the time to reload. I was two steps from making it to the door. I poked my head around at the same time as a mare wearing a riot mask. We almost bumped heads.

She was shocked by how close I was. The mare jumped backwards and lost her grip on her gun. She found it again and was about to bring it around to light me up point blank, before I pounced on her and kicked the gun away. She kicked me in the face, but you couldn't tell around all of my other bruises. Her partner brought her gun up, but I grabbed the barrel and thrust it upwards.

Our little scuffle went unnoticed among the dozens of others going on at the same time.

I kicked the first mare back, and her helmet got caught under her chin. I hit her hard in the stomach, and again under her jaw, and her mask and helmet flew off together. I was shocked at the sight. The mare was young, too young to be wearing a uniform like this. She looked scared.

"What the..." I started.

I was interrupted as an explosion sounded from beyond the main door, an exlosion so loud that it drowned out the other sounds from the fighting. I looked up as twenty to thirty more mares poured into the atrium. Any maintenance mare out in the main stable had returned. The Overmare's personnel were now surrounded with no way to escape.

"Come on!" I barked at the two fillies were trying to fight grown mares. Whether they followed me or not, I didn't pay attention right now. I got off the young mare and broke for the next fortification. The Gadget's reinforcements added a new direction from which to watch for fire.

Another security mare from across the room saw me. Bullets exploded around my head. I raised my 9mm pistol and returned fire with SATS. I wasn't sure if I hit the mare or not, but the shots stopped.

I moved on to the last fortification. A small ball with a stem sailed over the top. Unsure of what it was, I knew that anything thrown in these conditions, I probably didn't want near me. I enveloped the little ball and hurled back into the fray. As soon as I let go of it, it exploded with an earsplitting roar. I was blinded and deafened by the blast.

After a few moments, my vision returned, but I could still hear no sound. Everything was a dull rumble. I ran for the door and made it without getting shot at any more. A though passed through my mind. What about Rose? I couldn't leave her in a place like this.

I didn't know where her quarters were though, and as I watched, the door closest to where she had been eating the previous day was opened, one of those exploding apple things was thrown in, and the door exploded.

I made a break for the stable. I had to tread carefully over the bodies that littered the cavernous space between the stable and the hideout. Traps that I had not seen the day before had claimed numerous security ponies.

I escaped amid the chaos of battle and began to return at last to the stallions that I had been appointed to lead.

* * *

 **Whew! Sorry it's been a while guys. But thanks for reading. Thank you to those of you who have left reviews. Really, they go a long way to help me keep writing.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	33. Chapter 33

I lumbered through the halls of the stable. There was no fighting like there had been mere hours before, though bloodstains marked where warriors from both sides had fallen. Occasionally a corpse lay still in the halls. Civilians, if they could still be called that, did a pretty good job at getting rid of the bodies and cleaning up the messes made by our fighting. They were wearing the armor and weapons of the fallen soldiers. It was amazing how the stable had changed. Maybe it would be better if the stable ponies just opened the door and left all this behind. The shelter was beginning to look like a wasteland anyway.

The two young mares had followed me from the fray. They had been too frightened to question anything they were told, and as we walked through the halls, they seemed to be noticing the same changes as me.

The non-combatants, as may be a more acceptable term, did little more than acknowledge us, taking a moment to look up and watch us as we passed. They didn't eye the two mares with positive eyes, though they got out of the way as we passed. It was clear that many relationships were tarnished. This would take a long time to heal.

As I ran through the halls, I felt the floor give out underneath me. The world around me was plunged into an ethereal expanse, not unlike the one in which I met The Dealer, yet this one felt... cheaper, not as powerful. I heard a voice, a crotchety old mare, "Hmmm."

Before me was the old mare. She was hunched over and frail. Her grey mane hung ragged over her eyes.

"What?" I asked, "Who are you?" The old mare began to creep closer.

"Not another step before I know your name!"

The mare halted. "You do not need to know my name. All you need to know is that you are speaking to the chief adviser to the Overmare, and the Master Wizard of Stable 28."

"Master Wizard?" Then I noticed it, the spell. This entire thing was generated by one incredibly powerful spell. Sure enough, I tried every counter-spell I could think of to break her masterpiece, but it was no use. No matter what I cast, I could not pierce her veil.

I tried a different approach, putting in everything I had, I created the most powerful I ever had to try to throw the mare off enough so that I could escape. The burst of magical energy erupted from my horn and would have nailed the mare square in the face, were it not for a single spark of lightning the shot from the tip of her horn. That tiny little bit stopped my burst and diffused it.

Upon the demonstration, I collapsed to my rump, agape. As I sat there, aghast, the mare approached me, examining every bit of me, like a piece of art being examined by a critic, or a new machine being presented to investors.

"Why am I here?" I squeaked out, eventually.

"When I was just a little filly..." The old mare began, "My grandmother would tell me stories about the old stallions, knights in silver armor with weapons of crimson death as they fought hard against the Overmare's tyranny. She was power-hungry, you see. She didn't like the idea of there being ponies that weren't under her control.

"The silver knights fought against the Overmare at every turn. The Overmare was tricky, though. Perhaps more tricky than the Overmare now. She found a way to turn their own armor against them. The knights' own armor became their death-chambers, their weapons functionless, their robots and turrets were altered to see them as the enemies.

"I remember her telling me how they fought, how they lost, how they fled. She told me how a small group got separated amidst he chaos of the fleeing ponies. The leader of these noble stallions would not see himself to safety while he still had ponies under the Overmare's influence. He turned back into the iron maze and found the group that had been separated. They continued to fight the Overmare for a long time. But they ultimately had to surrender to her.

"She told me that the Overmare personally selected the fifty stallions that became the first batch. Of course she chose the weakest, the smallest, the youngest, the oldest, the sickly. She also chose their Overstallion. The rest were killed.

If you ask any mare today, they will tell you that the stallions defied the Overmare to the end, that's why they're treated the way they are. The reason they defied the Overmare, is because the Overmare was not their master. They owed no loyalty whatsoever to the neighbor kingdom of fair mares, and they knew it. They were fierce fighters believing in free will, honor, and righteousness.

"I never liked hearing about the silver knights' defeat. I would lay awake at night for hours wishing for them to come back and take me away to their castle where I'd be free from this place. The way their weapons blazed, their armor shined, the way they spoke with a kindness gone unheard of in today's stable. I wanted them to come back, to take me away. But they never came.

"When I heard that a stallion was rebelling against the Overmare, I was overjoyed. I thought that maybe one of those silver knights had come back. I thought maybe this is the chance for the stable to be set right. Then I heard about the killings done in medical and otherwise. These weren't the silver knights from before. These were the savages from the Overmare's nursery rhymes. By her treatment, she had turned heroes into monsters.

"Until I saw you when you tried to speak with the Overmare, that was what I thought. Now that I see you up close I can see... the silver knights still have not come home. Though they may yet still.

"The last thing my grandmother said before she died, the last story she told, was that they would come... black knights... black... doomed. We're all doomed. Doomed!"

As the mare's monologue ended, she began to shriek with a voice that could shatter glass. I covered my ears as her universe melted around me. I got the sensation that I was falling. Then the witch disappeared, and I was once again running through the corridors on my way to the Stallions' Stable.

Whew, I needed to stop letting my imagination get the better of me. First The Dealer, now a witch? What's next? A dragon with a lion's paw and pony hoof? I shook may head to get rid of any residual thoughts and set my eyes once more on the path ahead.

By the time we reached the right level of the stable, no guards, no security ponies, no soldiers had shown themselves. It seemed the Overmare had dumped all of her mares into that one raid on Gadget. As much as I didn't like the way she thought, there was a nagging feeling in my gut that something needed to be done. We were fighting the same enemy, but for different reasons.

We trotted past abandoned barricades and fortifications to reach the door that opened into the commons room. When we opened the door, there were about six guards up on the second floor. That was all that was guarding the entrance to the Stallions' Stable. Granted they had a minigun trained on the opening, now would be the best opportunity to strike at the Overmare.

The guards turned their guns on the three of us as we entered the room. Even with SATS, I doubted the three of us would be quick enough to counter the guns.

"Halt! This is a restricted area! Stop where you are and submit to custody!" yelled one of the guards. I ignored her and made for the opening. Her minigun hummed to life as she hollered again, "This is your last warning!"

I didn't care, and she knew it. She turned the gun on the two mares that had been following me. That made me halt. I looked up at the six mares, as two jumped off the second story and landed with a clang as their iron shoes crashed against the steel floor. My followers raised their guns on the mare with the minigun and looked to me for advice.

I was probably eight steps from being out of their line of sight. I could easily jump to safety and leave the two mares to be turned to paste by the menacing weapon. I sighed, going back and stepping in front of the two mares, using my magic to take of their assault rifles and to push the other aside.

"I'm not going to be stopping!" I yelled back at the gunner. "I am a stallion. You won't kill me. I'm protecting these fillies! You won't kill them either! Because you'd have to kill me first!"

Using the automatic weapon, I drew a line of bullet holes in the ground at the hooves of the advancing mares. They took a step back, shying away from ricochets. "I know you can't kill me, so you're going to let us through."

Without waiting for a response, I motioned for the fillies to keep going. The guards were surprised at my outburst, but I'd had a pretty bad week and I was not in a mood for debating passage. Neither was feeling very patient. We proceeded into the Stallions' Stable without waiting for a response.

It was good to be out of the Overmare's influence again. Almost as soon as we were out of sight of the security ponies, I dropped to the ground and sat against the wall of the hall. The two mares were confused, and they exchanged a look of uncertainty. They weren't much for talking, but I had heard them whispering to themselves as we walked.

I broke a smile and looked up at the lights that buzzed softly overhead. Somehow, the light here felt different than the light in the other stable. I knew that it was the same, but there was something about the air, the atmosphere that just brought about a smile. I took a deep breath, then exhaled.

"Ah, feels good," I said. Then I noticed something even better. Down a hall that forked off of ours, there was a bright red vending machine. This day just kept getting better and better.

"Either of you two got a bobby pin?" I asked. One of the two mares pulled one out of her pocket. "You're fantastic!" I exclaimed. Taking it, I trotted down the hall and picked the lock to the tricky machine. It clicked open, and I felt like I had gone to the Everafter. Rows upon rows of Sparkle-Cola filled the interior.

I grabbed one for each of us, then popped the cap of mine. The sweet syrupy goodness made my limbs feel less bruised. I felt vibrant energy that I had not felt in a while. Life was good, the Overmare had screwed herself, and this whole issue would be done in less than a day.

I skipped my way back to the cafeteria like a foal, whistling tunes that DJ-Pon3 had played over his radio. I was feeling... in a word... joyful.

The three of us soon arrived. We opened the door, and every head in the stallions' base of operations turned towards us.

"Hellooooo. I'm back!" I shouted as I thrust my bottle of Sparkle-Cola into the air and kissed it.

Green and Cinder were looking over some documents sitting on a table. A short chorus of cheers erupted from the small group of ponies gathered in the hall. The injured had almost all been treated, and there were food lines working again. Most of the ponies in here were eating casual meals.

Cinder and Green approached me.

"Well, somepony's in a good mood. The meeting with the Overmare go well?" Cinder asked. Oh yeah, the last time they saw me, I was going to discuss the cease-fire with the Overmare. "We noticed a distinct lack of guards over the last few hours."

"Oh, no. my last few day have been a living tartarus, as have these poor fillies'. I say we get them something to eat, look at them," I replied. The two ponies looked over at the two ex-security ponies who had gravitated to a corner, separating themselves from the rest of the ponies in the room.

As if on queue, a pony in the kitchen behind a window placed two plates of fresh fruits and veggies on the counter. I levitated the plates over to a table and motioned for them to join the small group of other ponies who were also enjoying a meal.

"Okaaayyy," said Green. "Well, you've been gone a while. What's happened? Why were you gone so long?"

I filled my two deputies in on what all had happened to me while I was away. Though I may have exaggerated a little on some parts.

"Wow, that explains the bruises. You look horrible, by the way," said Green. Cinder hit him in the side, as if to say his comment was inappropriate. The message wasn't received.

"How have things gone in here? It looks promising," I asked after their little exchange.

"Well, after you left, we sent out a few parties of three or four. The medical mares have been working around the clock to get as many ponies as possible up and in working condition. Our ranks of combat ready ponies have doubled over the last few days. Not to mention, the medical department of this stable is massive! Three whole floors dedicated to medicine and science! The amount of supplies available to us are enough to fuel a pre-war army!" Cinder explained.

"Yeah," said Green. "We also found the pastures used to grow food," he said.

"Pastures?" I asked.

"Yep, pastures. The mares may have their gardens, but the stallions have fields upon fields of crops grown using real... what is it? UV rays?" Green added.

"The stallions used an artificial sun created from the waste from the main reactor," Cinder said. "The sun is still burning, so over the season, the crops have kept growing. The fields are literally jungles of whatever produce you want!"

That just made my day even brighter. Was I on some kind of drug? I must be hallucinating. Life for the stallions was changing for the better! I took another swig of ice cold Sparkle-Cola.

"That's great news!" I said.

"It is. We were just discussing a serious problem about the future, though," Green started.

"No, no problems right now. You were correct in your statement that the Overmare doesn't have enough guards right now. She's using them all to try to defeat Gadget. I want every able-bodied pony to suit up. We're going to counter-attack the Overmare right now, while she's vulnerable," I ordered.

"What?" Cinder and Green exclaimed at the same time.

"I don't think that right now is the best time," said Cinder

"Right now is the best chance we're going to get. I assume my guns are still in my office?" I asked. Both of the ponies nodded. The ponies that had been eating overheard the conversation and as soon as we were done, everypony got up and went to spread the word and suit up, even the two fillies. I called them over.

"Look, I just pulled both of you out of a firefight that you are far too young to be able to fight in. Do you see those doctors over there?" Four ponies were still immobilized on tables on the opposite side of the cafeteria. The doctors from medical were hovering over them, still conducting operations and administering medicines. The two young fillies nodded.

"If you want to do some good, stay here and watch over them. They won't be joining us in our fight. Keep them safe, okay? And finish your meal. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes," squeaked one.

"Thank you," I said as I rubbed the filly on the head.

Green grabbed his gun, which he had kept close, followed me up to my office. He was already kitted out in his armor, as always. Green had filled my role as Overstallion while I was away. As such, he had been in and out of my office. He had not touched any of my equipment.

It had felt like such a long time since I had been inside this plush office, even though it had only been a few days. I opened the container that held my gear. I ran my hooves over my carbine, my saber, my 10mm, the .357 revolver that I had stolen from the Overmare's armory. They felt good. I felt my hooves shaking as they brush up against the tools that I would use to destroy the tyrant. Finally, _Harvest Time_ felt polished and new. Had somepony cleaned it? It felt like it had a purpose, a meaning. It felt alive and eager to be used. The charge showed almost full, I had only fired it a few times.

I approached the desk and activated the intercom. "Attention ponies! This is the Overstallion. We will be attacking the Overmare's stable momentarily. Please get the armory immediately and fit yourselves out. Meet in hall leading down to the opening. It's time we ended this mess." I closed the intercom and began to prepare for the fight.

"Cinder says that this place was probably designed to house thousands of ponies. She said that there are drilling and manufacturing tools and workshops all through here," Green said as I slid the bullet-proof plates over my limbs.

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yeah, she said that this place, if given enough time, would probably have become a city. Like one of them pre-war cities, with stores, shops, companies... those things," Green continued.

"Maybe it still will," I said. "It's ours now. We can do with it what we want."

"There's not enough of us though," Green explained. I looked at him. "Cinder was telling me right as you came in, that there aren't enough stallions to repopulate the stable. We would run into inbreeding, within two or three generations."

I looked at my hooves. That was not a problem that I had anticipated. I knew bad things would happen if there were too few ponies, but I didn't know how few too few was.

"We'll solve that problem when we get there," I replied. "One problem at a time. For now, lets focus on the Overmare, okay?"

Green nodded. "Okay."

Once I was fully armored, and holstered my weapons, I set out to meet my force at the tunnel. Cinder was right. Our ranks had swelled as injured ponies had healed their wounds. The mares now outnumbered the stallions, but I didn't vocally point that out. They lined up along the wall, allowing me to inspect each of them, one at a time. I found Hotshot and Sniper standing next to each other. They each had a weapon unique to them, yet still snipers that fired .50 caliber rounds.

"You two!" I called to them. The two stepped forward. I examined their rifles. They just as magnificent as the one that I had broken in my office. "Good work," I returned their weapons to them and proceeded down the line. The stallions looked good wearing stallion cut armor. They almost looked like soldiers I'd seen in pictures. The crew was ready, and the Overmare would not be expecting a raid.

"Listen up!" I hollered so that everypony could hear me. "We're going to be dividing up into two teams! The first team will go support Gadget in maintenance. Once you get down there, follow the sounds of the gunshots until you find the fight. You can't miss it. The maintenance mares are to be considered as neutral. Don't shoot them. This is where the majority of the Overmare's forces are. As such, this will be the bigger team. Cinder will lead it. She knows who she'll be taking.

"I will lead the rest to apprehend the Overmare. This is is, bucks. Tonight we dine as free ponies!" To puncture the point, I raised my carbine in the air. Cheers erupted from the group of battle-ready ponies. Most had seen firefights before. It was time to charge once more into the fray.

I took point, leading the storm of angry ponies back into their cage of a stable. The six mares who had been guarding less than an hour before were still there. One shrieked as we swarmed out of our hiding place. Guns boomed as the two sides exchanged a quick slew of fire. The minigun mounted on a rail on the second floor hummed to life as the mares shrieked at our sudden attack.

It wasn't quick enough, however, as _Harvest Time_ buzzed as nine bolts of red energy at the mare using it. She flinched as the fourth shot hit her. Only four found their mark. I saw three of the ponies fall; I wasn't sure if they were dead. The other three fled back into halls on the upper floor.

The stallions followed their designated leaders. Cinder led the group of mostly mares down to maintenance. There were four ex-security mares in my group, which was comprised of mostly stallions. I though we should divide the groups so that the stallions went after the Overmare, but Cider hadn't thought it wise. We had found a simple compromise.

The non-combatants of the stable had grown accustomed to the sound of fighting, and disappeared.

Before I knew it, I had shot through two of the cartridges used to power my laser rifle. I put it away and promptly drew my carbine. I had plenty of ammunition for that.

The shortest way to the administration level, would be to cut through the security level. Things were thicker here, as reserves were in waiting for the fight in maintenance. No pony would kill a stallion, so when I group went running down the hallways wielding guns, they mostly fled.

The shortest rout is not always the safest. I learned that the hard way, as we decided to cut through the cell block. It shortened the journey by a lot in that it avoided a lot of the halls and corridors that snaked all though the level. There were three main doors that entered and exited the cell block. This is obviously poor design for a place where prisoners should be kept, but it didn't matter. We were underground and in a glorified bomb shelter. Where would a criminal go should they escape? Well I guess I had answered that question, but those hideouts weren't part of the original design.

Our choice was a mistake. Our party blew the door open and charged into the open, two-story corridor. Inside we had run right into a trap set up by the security chief.

There must have been two-hundred mares lining the rails on the second floor and standing in formation to receive us on the floor. We froze in a tight group. Suddenly this attack may turn into a last stand, as the security ponies closed in around us.

The chief held a microphone so that everypony could hear her.

"Stallions of Stable 28, I am ordered to take UP-26 into custody, and personally oversee her deliverance to the Overmare for justice. You will comply or I will be forced to perform field justice," said the chief.

"You will not! We would rather die than be put back into out cells, right?" cried a stallion behind me. A chorus of agreements echoes his resolve. I, on the other hoof, noticed the cells in the block were all closed and locked, whereas last time I was here, only ten were closed and locked.

"I'll tell you what, Ms. Security Chief. I'll go with you to the Overmare, if you free every pony in these cells and let them and my ponies return to the Stallions' Stable without trouble. I emphasize that they are to return together."

"What?" Gasped a group a ponies behind me.

"You're actually going to go through with this?"

"Fair enough," The chief conceded.

I kept my carbine trained on her, as I shed my gear, save my one gun, and gave them to one of the other stallions to place in my quarters. The cells opened, and out stepped many of the mares from maintenance. Among them were Lavender, Gadget, and Rose. Oh, Rose.

That gorgeous, wonderful pink mare stared back at me as she was led down the stairs and to the door behind me. The stallions also backed away and together, the liberated mares and stallions began the trek home. I just wasn't ready to risk dooming the stable with a violent last stand... at least not yet.

As soon as the other ponies were gone, another pony approached the chief.

"Why did you just let them all escape? You know we're supposed to apprehend any stallion that we see!" she cried.

The chief replied calmly, "We are under orders to capture this particular stallion using any means necessary. Now get back into line before I have you under subject to field justice."

The mare dipped her head and backed away. An officer approached me with a pair of hoof-cuffs. I moved my carbine in her direction.

"No cuffs," I said. "I don't like chains."

* * *

 **Whew! What a chapter to write. This is by far the longest chapter yet. It went kind of fast, but things may be starting to wrap up here pretty soon. Thank you so much for reading, I know this one was longer than most. What do you all think of that? Do you like the longer chapter? Leave a review with your thoughts. It helps keep me motivated.**

 **Thanks again,**

 **Brohoof /)**

[Pssst /) looks like pony's hoof. So to brohoof back it's just simply (\ kind of like /)030(\ but /) (\ is what it would look like.]


	34. Chapter 34

"You're doomed," The old mare said to the Overmare.

"Stop saying that! I've won! I defeated Gadget. Now I've defeated that stud who calls himself Overstallion, there's nopony who can stand against me! The traitors will be executed and I will finally have true control over the entire stable! We should be happy!" The Overmare replied. She had been pacing almost since I had escaped her. That little stunt had been directly connected to the attack on Gadget. Go figure the Overmare to kill when she got angry.

"Then why are you scared?" asked the witch.

"Scared? I'm not scared! I'm excited!"

"Are you?" The witch continued. The Overmare froze, pondering what she said. My escorts knocked on the Overmare's door. She dismissed her adviser with a wave of her hoof, and she left out a different door into an adjacent hall.

In we went. At some point, I'd had to give up my carbine. Security wouldn't take me to the Overmare while I still had it. As soon as I relented my weapon, a mare had tackled me and cuffed me. They also put the spell inhibitor back on my horn. Furthermore, they added chains around my neck, so that if I tried to escape, they would tighten them, and I would strangle myself.

Wearing these binds, the security team led me into the Overmare's office. The team was being led personally by the chief.

"Ah," said the Overmare as we entered. "So you've finally gotten around to my pet project, hmm?" asked the Overmare as she looked at the security chief.

"Well we caught him once. He didn't escape on my watch," the chief said, flatly. The Overmare brought her hoof around and smacked her so hard that most ponies would have been thrown to the ground. The chief barely flinched.

"Foal! Do not tell me who's watch it was! It was your mares who were in there when he escaped. How do I know they didn't set him free?" The Overmare asked.

"We've had this conversation twice already, Ma'am," the chief explained. Not even her aviators had fallen off from the hit. "Why would my mares have betrayed you, when you promised one of them my job? On top of that, she offered the other her job when she was promoted. Believe me, Overmare. They were loyal to you, and you alone."

"As it should be," said the Overmare. The other members of the security team were shifting nervously at the outcry between the two superiors. If they went to blows, who would the security ponies side with?

"And now my enemy. How does it feel to be ground beneath my hooves, hmm?" The Overmare said as she eyed me over.

"It feels like I've been here once before, only I was sitting, and wound up in your bed," I replied.

"Hmhm, you're funny. I like you, stallion. I really do. It really is a shame that you had to go and do the things you have. I'm going to make you one last offer. Ready?"

I didn't reply, just glared at her.

"You could live, you could be free as any mare. Maybe even get your own quarters, work for me, anything you want can be given at your beckon call. All you have to do is return the ponies that you broke out of my prison," the Overmare offered. The chief stood stiff. Once again, her vein started popping out of her head. Beyond that, her gaze showed no emotion.

"Not a chance in Tartarus," I replied.

"Well, that is a shame. You wound me, pony. I can't put you in a regular cell, as you've proven too crafty to trust with such freedom." The Overmare returned behind her desk and pushed a button. The multi-monitored console on the wall behind her desk lifted away. The desk slid forward, and a stairway going down was revealed. Suddenly I understood how somepony could go days on end in here without being seen by the rest of the stable.

She gestured for us to follow her down. At the bottom of the staircase, three doors went off in different directions. We went straight. It opened and closed with the familiar hiss, and four small cells lined either side of the small corridor. These cells were smaller than the breeder's cells, believe it or not. They were solid steel cubes, lacking beds, toilets, and sinks like the other cells had. The only things in the room were a metal chair, not unlike the one I was tied to last time I was in the Overmare's office, and an old skeleton, old flesh barely cinging to long dead bones. Why would Stable-Tech build such facilities into their stables? Maybe they didn't. Maybe the Overmare built all this. After all, Gadget built a mini-stable and Harvest was mining crystals.

The security team removed the chains and threw me into the cell, which was three steps lower than the corridor, and closed the door. Almost immediately, I heard shouting, then that faded as the arguing Overmare and Security Chief trotted away.

I stood for a moment, still as a statue, then I looked to the body, crumpled beside the stairs as if the poor pony had been banging on the door to get out when they died. Had it been a traitor like Gadget? Disgruntled with the way the Overmare ran things? Could it have been a previous stallion that had caused problems? It didn't have a pip-buck. I remembered the Overmare trying to remove mine. A thought sent shivers down my spine. Could the Overmare have promised life to stallion, just to watch him wither in here, alone? I noticed there was no food tray on the door.

I began to pace the edges of the room. The walls were scratched and dented, likely from where the previous inhabitant had tried to find something, anything to get out. Perhaps they had been on to something? I soon found myself banging on the walls. There was something about this place. It was maddening.

I screamed and shouted as I thrust my whole body against the door to the cell. The Overmare wouldn't get me. I would go down fighting, right? Even in a hopeless situation, I wouldn't go quietly to the slaughter. It would be better to go down resisting, than submit to her cruel methods.

As the hours ticked by, I tried to regain my composure. I sat in the chair, and crossed my hind-legs. I closed my eyes, and tried to concentrate on my magic. The inhibitor still around my horn prevented anything, even the stealthy magic I knew that could be executed without the horn's glow could not be summoned. Besides, the walls of this cell were likely enchanted. The map on my pip-buck was solid green. The cell was interfering with the spell matrix.

I once again lost my patience and scrambled at the walls. There was a pressure gripping my mind. My mental resistance couldn't keep whatever it was out.

Almost a full day past. I had no sleep, no water, and no food. Curled in a corner, I felt something in my mind break. I was confident that I had had a chance to strike at the Overmare. I blew it. It was a straight shot. All I needed to do was get to her before her ponies returned to from the maintenance stable. I had failed. The realization was crushing.

I had failed Green, the earth pony who had served as my number one. I had failed Orange, the pony that I had sent out into the world to seek help. I had failed the stallions that chose to stay with the Overmare and whose cells had become furnaces. I had failed Stable-Tech. The manual for Stable 28 said that it was supposed to be the center of a social experiment, segregated societies run by stallions and mares. The Overmare had violated that manual when she invaded Harvest.

I had failed Harvest. That old stallion had refused to leave the stable unless all of his ponies were free. He returned to subject himself to the Overmare, rather than be free while others suffered. I had failed Lens Cap. One of the few mares that had believed in me. She could have doomed me from the very beginning. I failed Officer Cinder, Sniper, Hotshot, and every one of my ponies who were expecting me to lead them to victory, or at least change.

Even though we disagreed on some things, I had failed Gadget. That old, brown, lovely mare would likely try again to resist the Overmare, but to what end? The Overmare knew right where she was this time, and she doesn't have the numbers. I had failed Syringe. The medical ponies I had spared would now likely be convicted of treason. Their fate was as sealed as mine.

Most importantly, however, I had failed Rose. Oh, Pink Rose. That beautiful pink mare that had helped me find a ground knowledge and had kept my secret safe. She trusted me on the day that I told her to skip work. Though she had wronged me, she felt badly about it and I knew it. To ease her conscience, I had forgiven her. I was proud to call her my friend. The image of that beautiful pink mare remained in my head for a long while.

My consciousness began to fade as I started to slip into that limbo that grief can bring about.

I heard the shuffle of cards.

I didn't move.

Once again, the cards shuffled.

"Go away," I sobbed.

"Get up!" came that old, crackly voice grunted.

All I did was twitch my ear.

"Is this it then? The last great Overstallion of stable 28, is this how he goes out?" The Dealer taunted. "Get up!"

"It doesn't matter!" I cried back. Tears began to form in my eyes, and it was like I was looking the world through a blur. "One way or another, I'm done. When the Overmare returns, I'll be going off to the medical wing, or maybe they have it set up here. I'm going to be decommissioned."

The Dealer was standing in the corner adjacent to the skeleton. There was a mist about him, so his hooves were obscured. His glowed red through the eye sockets of a skull. A wide-brimmed cowpony hat sat atop his head, and a tattered poncho waved in a nonexistent wind. An ace and a queen, both of spades, were tucked into his hat.

"Colt, the wasteland is an unforgiving place," he replied.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"It means you're facing death. You've been facing death for the last few weeks. Now, in your own words, you're going to be decommissioned," The Dealer explained.

The Dealer extended his fore-hoof from the mist. In it, was a deck of cards. He lifted the top card, an ace, my ace. It was me, in my armor, revolver at my him, _Harvest Time_ on my back, and shotgun in-hoof. It was crumpled and torn almost half-way through down the middle. It looked burnt and useless.

"Everypony has a hoof in the game," said The Dealer. "Everypony gets dealt a different set of cards, and to each pony, each card means something different. I don't keep cards like this in my deck." He threw the card at me. It hit me in the nose, cutting it with one of those little cuts that are extremely painful.

"Now this," he said as he produced a second card from his poncho. "This is a card worth keeping." Once again, it was me. The scene was the Overstallion office. I was leading a successful and happy stable. The ponies under me worked for me because they wanted to, not because they had to. There was not Overmare to bother us, no fighting, and no violence.

I looked at The Dealer, while rubbing my nose where the card had cut it.

"You've dodged bullets and killed some bad ponies. You've killed good ponies too. Each one of those good ponies makes your fight that much harder, but if you just give up now, then what will they have died for?" asked The Dealer.

"I don't know," I answered.

"Don't know?" The Dealer replied. "What does that mean, don't know?"

"I-" I began.

"No, that's not an acceptable answer," The Dealer cut me off.

"I can't keep going like this!" I cried. "Getting captured, fighting, getting captured again, fighting some more, and to what end? I'm not going to see peace, I'm going to have to find a solution to countless more problems, because I'm going to be the next Overmare! It's not going to end! The fight is just going to change!"

We stood for a moment in silence.

"You told me you wanted liberty. Now you're seeing the price that it comes with," The Dealer said at last.

"I... I don't know if it's worth it any more," I said. "I certainly won't find it. At least not here."

"Then where?" Asked the Dealer.

"The Everafter?" I suggested.

"You think you'll find your freedom in death?" He continued to question.

"I don't know." I countered. "I just know that I can't beat the Overmare. Not now."

The Dealer had his cards laid out.

"So that's that then?" he concluded. "You're content at this point to just die?"

"What do you suggest I do?" I pleaded.

"This is your game. I taught you how to play, now you need to see it through. This is why you don't bet all your chips on one pot," The Dealer finished.

He disappeared, as the door opened. Four mares and the Overmare were standing on the corridor outside.

"It's time, UP-26. You are due to be decommissioned," the Overmare said.

Silently, I crept up the steps back out into the corridor. They cuffed my hooves again, but spared all the other restraints from last time. We went back up the hall and down one of the other corridors. We entered a large room.

The room was almost all black and dark. There was a straight line of light heading straight down to a circle of light in the center of the room. A team of doctors were working on a terminal attached to a medical bed. Attached to the terminal was dozens of robotic arms that served a variety of purposes during major operations. The main arm that had my attention was the needle with the black rubber ring around it. Inside was the purple formula used on males when a younger buck reaches the age to begin breeding.

I trotted slowly and carefully. My mind flashed images of my life, both before I escaped the cells and after. I saw every happiness, every sadness, every bit of joy, glee, depression, anger, everything that had filled my life. The last thing my mind's eye saw was Rose and the roller coaster of emotions that had come with her.

I trotted silently. I wouldn't give the Overmare the sick pleasure of knowing just how much this walk was tearing me up. The surgeons laid me down on the bed. My ears had gone deaf. Here I was, going to my own slaughter.

I felt the table rumble, while the Overmare stared on with a sick grin.

"Don't worry, little colt. It'll all be over soon. It's going to be okay," I heard her say. I resisted the urge to fling my hooves around here. The doctors must have seen my muscles tense, because they fastened the clamps that were built into the table.

I breathed slow and steady as I stared blankly into the Overmare's eyes, her beautiful eyes; Rose's eyes, only with added venom.

I felt the needle break the skin on my fore-hoof. I felt the cool rush as the chemical flooded my veins. I gave the Overmare the hardest glare I could muster. I would see her in Tartarus. She knew it.

I closed my eyes before I knew I should. The cool wave passed through my limbs, and I felt them go numb. Finally, my mind was all I knew. As I breathed my last conscious breath, I felt the peace. The Overmare was right. It was all over. It was all okay.

* * *

 **Chapter 34 Completed**

 **Brohoof /)**


	35. Chapter 35

Void.

Was this what death was like?

Everything was black. All I knew was black. I couldn't feel my limbs, my face, my horn. I couldn't even feel my lungs. Was I even breathing? The nothingness was accented only by little specs of white. Like distant voices I could hear the voices singing songs. It was beautiful, yet terrifying. Adrift, I still felt the numb bliss invoked by the nightkiss. There was a chill in my mind, like I could sense the drug flooding my system. Still, everything remained out of my reach.

I heard the shuffle of cards.

"That was quick," I felt myself say. I knew it was my mind speaking, yet I still felt disconnected, like parts of my brain were not working. "I just saw you."

The old stallion grunted. The Dealer appeared in front of me. A card table set. Without speaking, he shuffled the cards expertly, not taking his cruel, red eyes off me. The cards slid into one another perfectly. The Dealer needed to show me that sometime. If I was dead, and this was how I would spend eternity. I had plenty of time to learn a few card tricks.

The shuffled deck slammed into the table as he pounded it hard. I knew what he wanted, and I split the deck through the top card only. He accepted this and began to deal, two for him and two for me. Three were dealt into the center: five of clubs, queen of spades, and three of diamonds.

I picked my cards up. I had an eight of hearts and a two of spades. Unfortunately, this wasn't a good hoof. I bet low.

The Dealer met my bet and dealt the next card, a seven of hearts.

I looked at that bony old stallion. I could see his scowl without needing to see his face. My best chance at winning right now was that queen. This game was over before it started. With my poor luck, I folded my cards. I lost, just like I had lost everything else.

The Dealer threw a few more chips in and threw the final card in, an eight of clubs. Had I not folded, I'd have had one pair. The Dealer showed his cards, an ace of hearts and a four of diamonds. I would have won had I not folded.

"You folded too early," he said. "That's how you lose."

"I folded because I had a bad hoof, next game I might have a better one," I said.

"There is no next game," said The Dealer. "When you forfeit like that, the only pony who is screwing you over is yourself."

"The possibility of you throwing down an eight or a two were incredibly unlikely!" I yelled at him. "I'm dead, and you still yell at me about how I'm playing your game wrong!"

"I thought you understood more than anypony..." The Dealer grunted in reply.

"Understood what?" I asked. "All I need to understand is that I lost. I tried to match the Overmare, and I fell short. Was it really that much of a surprise?"

"I thought you understood chance," the Dealer answered. "What were the chances that you escaped your cell? Do you think they were any more than me laying a two?"

"I think I escaped because I was crafty. All I had time to do was sit on my flank and think of a way out," I answered.

"You escaped because the cards fell just right enough to allow you to take advantage of them," The Dealer explained.

I was silent. Lens Cap could have given me away. Rose could have given me away. Most of the spells I used then I had only tested once or twice. One of them might have faltered.

"Now," The Dealer continued. "You've given in to the idea that you might lose. Even in our little game, you can fake out the opponent at the last moment of the game. Seconds matter."

"So what should I do?" I asked. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Not if you keep telling yourself that you've failed, lost, died, and gone to the everafter," The Dealer said. "Once you've reserved yourself to that fate, you fold your cards and might as well get up and trot away. Your game is over."

"Then what do I do? You just show up and tell me things, but you never tell me what you want me to do!" I cried.

"Keep playing. Even now, don't give in. There's always the possibility that something may happen. Your opponent may fold. The next card may be your key to winning. Even if you have bad cards, your chances at winning are the same as everypony else."

I sighed.

"Okay, I hope. I have faith that something will happen to turn the tide in my favor. I keep fighting. Then what?" I pleaded. I was at a loss. I couldn't understand what was being said. This kind of stuff was for the mares to handle. I'm just a stallion.

"The next card gets put down," The Dealer concluded.

"What?" I asked.

"It seems there's somepony who wants to see you. Somepony important," The Dealer said, dismissing our earlier conversation. I still missed his meaning. He disappeared and his cloud faded.

I was once again left alone. My mind once again disconnected from everything else and I was drifting again. One of the specs of light grew closer. Gradually, at first, it sped up the closer it got. Right as it was on top of me, it disappeared. It became the same blackness that engulfed everything else here.

I heard a grunt, as if large metal machines had awoken from an ancient slumber. I heard metal cry out, as something else metal ground itself against it. The lock groaned as it was rotated. It finished with a click that sounded more like a roar.

In front of me, the shape of a gear formed against the ever-present darkness. A blinding light shone from around the edges, keeping the number hidden, as the shape was silhouetted out of the space behind it. The stable door rolled to the left, revealing more of the blinding white light behind it. I covered my eyes with my hooves, half out of fear of not being able to see again. The door finished its song with a crash, and the machines finished their chorus.

In the light, I saw thousands of ponies, lined up as if to be presented to a judge. Standing in the maw of the great door was a pony wearing a familiar jumpsuit. He seemed younger than in the pictures I had seen of him. Behind him, his predecessors stood, pitying his situation, yet admiring his sacrifice. Behind them still, was a large herd of ponies. I saw mares, but almost all were stallions. Some wore the stallion-cut Stable-Tech jumpsuit, others wore nothing at all.

I faced the crowd of ponies. They looked at me in awe. Not like a child seeing a caged animal at the zoo, more like a soldier kneeling before a wounded veteran. They regarded me a hero. Even Harvest himself gave me a gentle smile. I saw the compassion, even after all these years, that he felt for the ponies in the stable.

"Hello there," he said. "I'd introduce myself, but I think we've already been acquainted."

I just stared, agape.

"I've been looking forward to this conversation for a long time," Harvest said, once I didn't respond.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Er, y-yes," I stammered. "I mean, what?"

"It is a pleasure," Harvest said, as he held out his hoof. I reached mine out as well, and we shook.

"It is," I replied, still surprised at what was before me.

"I'm sure you must have many questions," he stated.

"Yes, yes I do," I replied.

"Well now, I suppose, is as good a time as any to ask," he said with a smile. "It's been such a long time since I've been able to have a full conversation with a pony."

"How are we- I mean, who are- How are we here? How can I be actually talking to you? I must be dead!" I exclaimed.

"Hmm, well you see, that can be a little difficult to explain. Have you ever heard of necromancy?" Harvest asked.

"No," I replied.

"Well, its soul magic. Souls have certain properties that are beyond the physical. It is some of these properties that have to do with why we are still here," he explained.

"So am I dead?" I asked.

"Yes, but no." Harvest answered. "Your heart is not beating, yet your consciousness lives on. It takes a special kind of pony to do something like that. I guess you lived up to your promise to Rose. As long as your heart was beating, you resisted the Overmare."

I took another look around at all of the ponies in the stable's grand entryway. They were all still pleased, encouraging me onward.

"Who are all of these? They don't look like the other stable ponies," I asked.

"These," Harvest said as he gestured to the crowd. "These are the ponies that have fallen victim to the Overmare. They cannot speak to you in the same way that I can because they have already passed on. Yet, they watch over the stable. They sing a new song now, but are still aware of what is happening down below."

"These are all..." I looked around again. I saw them in the corner, the ponies that the Overmare had turned into ash. Dozens of stallions looked up at me. Their expressions shared one thought. They regretted returning to the cells. It was clear in their eyes that if given another chance, they would join me and see their freedom. I understood that they had been scared. I understood that life had been simple in the cells. It made sense, and they wanted to return to it.

I saw stallions who had fallen in combat against the Overmare. I saw the look of despair in their eyes that they would never be able to see the world that they had been fighting to create. I felt responsible.

I saw the stallions from before my little rebellion. Everypony that had fallen prey to the Overmare's deadly nightkiss. I saw mares that had gone against the Overmare. Some had outright rebelled, as I had. Others had simply spoken out. The Overmare had a knack for making those ponies disappear. Some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some still had hidden stallions from returning to the cells after their final service.

I wanted to cry at the sight, but I restrained myself.

"How is it then that you can talk to me?" I asked, turning back to him. "Are you a ghost?"

He sighed. "More or less, yes. In the final day of stable 28, I opened the door and allowed the stallions to escape into the wasteland on the other side. We were several ponies short. I couldn't leave while there were still stallions inside! How could I? I escaped and prospered while those who trusted me to lead them suffered? I couldn't take it. I decided I wouldn't leave while there were still ponies being subjugated by mommy's little princess of an overmare. When I died, it was no different. I wanted to help anypony that managed to escape her.

"You weren't the first stallion to escape. But even after I had died, I found the Overmare one step ahead. All of my secret passages were being discovered. I could no longer guide escaped stallions out of the stable. I got used to the inactivity and became just another wandering spirit, lost in the wasteland. There are quite a lot of ponies like that, some are still in physical form, ghoulish creatures, twisted and deformed. There are many ghosts in the wasteland. You just have to know how to find them. Not every ghost is a spirit."

"Was that when I found you in the stable?" I asked.

He chuckled, "Yes. I was watching you from the moment you crawled through the vent. I didn't think you would stay long. The mares never did. I thought you would just go back soon. When you activated a terminal and started exploring, I knew that somehow you had alluded the Overmare. It had been so long that I had stopped looking for stallions to help. When you came I remembered that I wanted to help the stallions, but couldn't quite remember how. When you showed now signs of leaving-"

"You chased me out," I finished for him.

"Yes. I chased you out because I didn't want you to get caught. I wanted you to return to your cell and not get in trouble. I was trying to help, but not in the right way. That was when I discovered where you were living. You had made a home out of my tomb."

"Hehe, sorry about that."

"No! That's what I built it for! When I saw what was going on, I realized that it was time! It was time justice was served to the Overmare. I knew that you were the pony to do it. That's why I gave you my gun. I knew that you would use it to free the stallions. I am not disappointed with the results."

"But I've killed so many ponies! Innocent ponies who didn't deserve to die!" I protested.

"And each one is regrettable a thousand times over. I won't go if there are still ponies that I was responsible for being held captive by the Overmare. I know you won't either. It's been hard, going about this stable, knowing that every moment is my fault... thinking to myself, 'If only I had just done a little better.' If only... If only."

"I'm doing what I can," I told harvest.

"I know. And I'm proud. You need to keep it up. Know that I'm here. You have the support of an entire nation's worth of ponies," Harvest said, encouragingly. The vision began to fade.

"I will! I'll see this through! And I'll see that you have your revenge!" I cried as the last images faded. They washed away like water, and that little white light never reappeared. Now that I noticed that, none of the others reappeared.

I felt my hooves again. My lungs filled with cool air. Through the blackness that was this world, I felt something in my chest. The first a powerful thudding suddenly started. I had told Rose that I would resist the Overmare as long as my heart was beating. When I failed myself to resist her, my heart had stopped. Now it was beating again, beating to the rhythm of freedom.

* * *

 **Okay, so our hero is back. Gave ya'll a little scare with the previous chapter there, didn't I? Well it's not over yet. We'll see where this goes.**

 **For those of you who like this story and would like more, donnieth65 has started writing a story about ol' Orange from earlier on. Remember him? His story is called The Rebel Heart Incident: A Road Less Traveled. Ya'll should check it out. Show it some love XD.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading. If you want to, you can leave a review with your thoughts and the next chapter should be out soon.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	36. Chapter 36

It can be said that unpredictable events can lead to unpredictable feelings. These events and feelings can be different for each individual. Now, remove the feeling part of the equation, and all that is left is an unpredictable event, or action. Just as an action has an equal and opposite reaction, an unpredictable action has an equally unpredictable reaction. When left to people to react to unpredictable events, there is a simple way that the mind reacts: confusion. Add the rush of adrenaline commonly associated with a near-death experience, and you might as well find a draconequus, and dance with the buffalo wearing tutus.

The darkness began to fade. I could feel my heart pumping, my lungs breathing, my blood coursing through my veins. I could not see, or hear, or feel anything beyond my vital systems. Of course, the more cognitive part of my brain was working perfectly.

All at once, my remaining senses came crashing in on my not-yet-recovered brain. I saw the stable lights overhead. I heard voices, though distant and muffled beyond comprehension. I felt an open body bag half-way zipped up to my torso. I seemed to be on another operating table, though this time not in that black room with white lights.

The doctors working over me seemed to be arguing about something. Somepony slipped something over my horn almost as soon as I opened my eyes. I saw a flash of metal as something that resembled a silver pie cutter was raised over my head. A second hoof caught the first one, which was holding the object, in the way that earth ponies hold things, honestly, how did they do anything without magic?

The second hoof disappeared as another mare tackled the pony to whom the second hoof belonged, and once again the hoof raised the knife that would separate my head from my neck. In the moment that the large scalpel came down, my brain clicked. Remember that rush of adrenaline? Well, now it hit.

I rolled to my left, away from the dangerous hoof, and the blade missed its mark. I sat up and smashed my hoof into the doctor's leg. I felt it buckle from the blow, and the doctor gave a cry of pain. I then yanked the inhibitor off my horn, and threw it away, as a small group of doctors tried to hold me down. I picked up the knife and jammed it instinctively into the doctor's face, right above her eye.

Panic ensued, as some ponies tried to hold me down, while others high-tailed it to the exit. Some few huddled in a corner. I would be a fool to try any more magic in my state than the simple levitation. Even that, in this condition, was risk for a burnout. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I felt it. My magic fizzled, and horn went dead. I would be struggling with a migraine for the next few days.

It was about now that I gained enough control and my senses returned enough for me to be able to see the situation. Ponies were yelling, there was fighting in the room, only about seven ponies were here, plus the one that I had just stabbed, made eight. Likely, it was the eight ponies that had operated on me.

Another thing that I noticed, is that we were not in a medical room. Instead, there was a large incinerator that dominated half of the dark room. The yellow-ish, green-ish, red-ish, blue-ish, fire within proved this to be the recycling room. I had woken up moments before being thrown in. What are the chances?

"Hey!" I shouted over the chaos. "HEY!" I shouted louder, not unlike a police official trying to get the attention of a mob or riot. Considering I was already the center of whatever was going on, getting everypony's attention was easy. "What the hay is going on!"

One of the doctors spoke up as two others picked up the wounded mare and carried her away. "You should be thanking us," she said. "We've just saved your life." The mare then puffed out her chest and pranced out of the room, followed by four of the seven other ponies.

I recognized her. She was the doctor that had spoken out against me in medical. I had let her willingly return to her quarters, as opposed to killing her where she stood. I looked at one of the three ponies that remained, rubbing my horn.

"Stop them, "a yellow mare, she looked to be more senior than any of the remaining doctors, hissed to the other two. They nodded and followed the first four out of the door.

Just like that, I was left alone, halfway in a body bag, in a room with an incinerator, with a doctor who had been trying to throw me in. Forgive me for net exactly being reasonable.

"What the _b_ uck just happened!" I demanded.

"Oh, don't mind ol' Snaggletooth. She's a dentist, not a physician. Spends half the time hopped up on laughing gas, and the other half cussing out and lecturing newbies on how many teeth are in a pony's mouth. If she gets to the Overmare, though, we could have a problem," she said.

"We?" I asked.

"Well, us. You and me," she paused, looking me over.

"What is it?" I questioned. I wanted to know what was happening.

"Extraordinary," she said. "A minute ago, you were dead as a doornail. How can this be?"

"I feel fine," I countered.

"You shouldn't feel at all. You should be dead. You took three times the normal amount of the decommission serum." She produced a clip board that was under the trolley upon which I sat and began making notes.

"If you don't mind, I would like to draw a blood sample for testing," she said.

"No," I replied flatly.

"Oh, you're right. Now might not be the best time," she agreed.

I unzipped the body bag with my hooves, and slid my hind legs over the edge of the cart to stand up. Upon doing so, they collapsed under my weight. I fell to the floor with a hard crash.

"Oh, no no no! Don't stand up. Don't do anything. You're stable now, but too much movement could relapse the effects of the serum," the mare said, putting me back on the trolley.

"So, why was that mare trying to kill me?" I questioned once I was back on the trolley.

"Why does anypony kill anypony? Because the Overmare wants it. The Overmare wants you dead, so ponies will go to great lengths to do what she says, even violate our very solemn oaths," said the yellow mare.

"But if I-" I began before I was cut off.

"Look, here's what I'll tell you. Some ponies are nutjobs. You're supposed to be dead. You were given three times normal amount of the mixture used to decommission ponies because the Overmare wanted you dead. She wanted ten times the amount. Fortunately, most of the healing potions are being used to treat wounded. To get the three we had, we had to take them from some poor mares' morning doses,"she explained.

"Wait, what do healing potions have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well, it's simple. Our formula is just a healing potion with a little bit of sodium chloride and a dash of benzene. Come on, even you had to notice the similarities in the color," she said.

"Just..." I replied, lamely. Healing potions were being used to kill ponies. The realization was humbling. I would never look at those little bottled miracles again.

"Yep, not saying it's right though. I'd say you weren't retired, so much as you were sentenced to an execution. Considering you took the execution bluntly, I'd say you deserve a walk now. Not literally, don't stand up!"

"I-"

"Hoohoo, you shoulda seen the look on the Overmare's face when you closed your eyes. She was certain she was going to be hearing you scream. She loves to torture her enemies. Though with you, it almost looked like you wanted it. She was furious!

"Now you're alive though. I can't explain it. I really would like to take some blood samples later though, after all of this is resolved," she said.

"I don't know what to say, or do. I really was expecting to die," I told her.

"Well, you're not dead now. Your heart rate is unusually high, but you do seem a little excited right now."

"What do I do if I can't walk, Doctor?"

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Doctor Buttercup. Lead physician of Stable 28."

"Overstallion of Stable 28."

"Ah, yes. The nameless studs. Look, if you haven't put this behind you enough to give yourself a name, then it's no wonder why the Ovemare got you what is it... twice now? Remember, three strikes, you're out. I wouldn't push my luck much past once though."

"Alright, that's enough," I said. She shrugged.

"But you haven't answered my question," I added.

"Ah, well. You expected to die. You did, but you didn't. Now you seem fine. Everything seems to be working normally. Technically, you're not under the Overmare's authority, are you?"

"No."

"Well I work for her, so I only have as much authority over you as she does. If I tell you to stay put and not go anywhere, while I leave this baton, that I just happened to pick up off the ground before coming in here, on the bed here, while I adjust my shoes, then that would be the same as the Overmare telling you to do just that," Buttercup explained.

I looked at her, confused.

"Oh, one more thing. Take this scalpel and cut me a bit," she said, banging her foreleg against the metal rack on the edge of my bed. Ouch, that's gonna leave a nasty bruise.

"What are you doing?" I asked, nervously.

"If anypony asks, I fought you and pushed you into the recycler," she said.

"Oh," I replied.

I picked up the razor-edged knife and slid it slowly across parts of Buttercup's limbs and face. She also bruised herself badly on the cart and a table nearby.

"Here's some leg supports that should help you walk and a potion, one of my custom brew. It'll make you completely invisible," she said.

"Why do you have this stuff just in your coat?" I asked.

"Ssshhhh," she replied and winked at me. "If you make it back to your friends and beat our mother _b_ ucker of an Overmare, then come see me and we'll talk about that blood draw."

I nodded, and without another word, drank the potion. It had the same effect as an invisibility spell. Thank Celestia I wasn't wearing any clothes.

I ran out the door and down a hall. This was a part of the stable that I had never been to before. With the help of the map on my pip-buck, though, I was able to find my location, and thus my way back the regular part of the medical wing. From there, down a few flights of charred, battle-scarred stairs, and I was back on the right path.

I couldn't help but spare a glance down one of the elevator shafts while I was in medical. It was the one in which that I had cut the security mare's line and caused them to free fall. Their cords still dangled in the empty shaft. I looked below. The stable was so deep that I couldn't see the bottom. The door was still open because of an explosive, likely a grenade of some sort, that had damaged the mechanism.

I panicked as I passed a patrol of ponies wearing infrared goggles. Whatever this potion was, it worked a lot better than typical invisibility spells. My spell can be detected by infrared lenses. This potion can't. That's why Lens Cap had been able to follow me on the cameras.

I slipped past all the guards on the way, ultimately discarding the baton, as it wouldn't do much against the combat helmets being sported by the Overmare's ponies.

"No! No! Please! I wasn't with Gadget! I promise! Praise the Overmare! Praise the Overmare!" A young mare shouted. She was being dragged down a hall towards a closet. I knew what security ponies did when they took ponies into closets. Tide and that other pony had tried to do it to me. I wanted to do something to help that poor mare.

The best thing I could do for her was get rid of the Overmare at any cost. Otherwise, this would be the perpetual life of the stable. The Overmare has more control now than she ever had before. She wasn't going to be giving it up easily.

I watched as the two security ponies dragged the screaming mare into the closet, chuckling to themselves.

"Nooooo-" her voice was cut off when the door closed. I shuddered as I continued on. Similar sights were seen all over the stable. Ponies shied away and hid from those who were supposed to be protecting them from ponies like me. Ha! Ponies like me. I would be the one to save them.

The stable is not the same. In the time since I have left the cells, the stable has changed. For now, it has taken a turn for the worse, but oh Celestia please let there be a chance in tartarus for me to make it better tomorrow. I've died once. I'll do it again.

The potion wore off, once I was under the protective gaze of the four massive triple-barrel minigun turrets guarding the corridor between the two stables.

* * *

 **Wheeeewww. Chapter... 36!? What happened? Where did all the other chapters go? This story really is flying by. I didn't actually expect to write this this week, but here it is. Our hero is back after an unfortunate turn of events. Things should be getting ready to wrap up soon. I say that now... but. Ah well, we'll see.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts. Thank you so much for reading.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	37. Chapter 37

I was greeted by my fellow ponies quite differently than I the first time I had returned from the Overmare's clutches. This time, we had more than twice the amount of ponies than we had the first time. Gadget and what remained of her ponies had been freed in exchange for my life. The Overmare would not be happy to find that I survived her execution. Honestly, what were the chances that I would live through something like that?

Nonetheless, when I entered the dining hall, everypony erupted into cheers. I had saved the stallions, the maintenance mares, some medical personnel, and more ponies from everywhere in the stable. I wasn't expecting so many ponies to be there. There must have been more than a hundred ponies crammed into the dining hall! Well, I say crammed, but they barely filled a quarter of it. The scene was such a shock that I just stood, agape.

A group them motioned me forward toward the crowd, which enveloped me as I came closer. I could smell it before I saw it. The feast prepared before us was the most extravagant that the stable had probably ever seen. There were no tablecloths, no individual seats, popping fire, or gourmet cooking, but what was on the tables was perhaps the largest collection of food in the stable's history.

The ovens and stoves were burning in the kitchen directly adjacent to the dining room, and music was playing over the stable speaker. On the other side of the room, the tables and benches had been unbolted and flipped up against the wall. A turntable sat on a makeshift stage, made out of broken down storage shelves, and a purple, polished fiddle hung from a hook on a stand.

I smiled as I found the good spirits and happy folks that I had once be a prisoner to. They now treated me as a friend.

I moved to take a seat. Much of the food had already been eaten, but there were still ponies enjoying themselves. Fresh, hot apple cider was poured into a steel Stable-Tech cup. I made my plate of more food that I could eat. But who cared? The Overmare would not be coming. The food was here, might as well enjoy.

A hoof tapped on my shoulder. I turned to see Green, my number one. He was beaming at me with a smile that said he was glad to have me back.

"Cinder and I will need to have a word with you later," he said.

"Okay, of course. What's the occasion?" I asked, over the noise and music.

"Well, it WAS a funeral. We knew you'd been gone for more than three days. We thought the Overmare had killed you. They don't really do funerals in here, but I thought we should do something to comenmo- no, comisserate? Oh! Commemorate! I thought we should commemorate everything you have done for us. You should see the jungles of food in the pastures. We had so much that we had to do something! Not to mention, the mare's were all half starved by the time they got here, that they need the to get their strength back," Green explained. Wow, he had become a talker since I left.

Cinder came up to me on my other side. She slammed her hoof into my unarmored rib.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"Stop scaring your ponies like that, it's bad leadership." Cinder said. I shrugged, rubbing my side with my hoof. Despite my headache brought about by my blowout, I couldn't help but smile at the crowd of ponies.

"Awe, back to soon?" asked a familiar voice behind me. I turned to see old Gadget she had one hoof bandaged and was walking with the aid of crutches. Other wounds marked her body and many bullet holes could be seen. "We were just about to start testimonials."

"Haha! Yeah, turns out we don't exactly know to do a funeral, so I thought we should make it up as we go," Green said.

"Cinder thought it was stupid," said a little white unicorn. The young pony, UP-1, was trotting on the tabletop. He was small enough to be able to avoid stepping into the food.

"I did not!" Cinder exclaimed. "I said it was a waste of time!"

"That's why you never came to my monthly moonlight mashup," Gadget said.

"No, that's not why!" Cinder snapped. "I... just... don't like parties."

"Considering the ponies she worked with, it's not wonder she doesn't like parties," added a mare standing nearby. Everypony starting laughing except for Cinder, who blushed slightly with embarrassment. Eventually, she chuckled slightly to herself.

"It's all right, Cinder," Gadget said as she bumped Cinder's rump. "Just loosen up a bit. Especially now, this is a happy occasion."

I turned my attention back to my plate. It was piled high with food that I had grabbed and food that had been passed from other ends of the tables.

My stomach rumbled as I looked at the food. Three days... I had been dead three day. I certainly felt three days hungry. I grabbed some sort of dough ball with a cinnamon glaze and took a bite. Inside, it was stuffed with apples that had been seasoned to perfection. They too were doused in some kind of sugary mess. I reveled in the flavor, and devoured the rest of the dough ball in one bite.

I reached for my mug of cider, just as Green reached for one next to me. He raised his into the air. Everypony in the room fell silent, except for the blaring music. I hesitated as I started to take a sip. Every eye in the room was on me. My stomach sank to my flank as I looked around, unsure of what was going on.

"To good fortune! The Overstallion and his triumph over the villainous Overmare! To each and every pony who cannot be with us now! To freedom!"

"Here here!" The crowd echoed. Everypony took a long swig of the sweet hot drink that the chefs had prepared. I was not sure what to do in this situation. To say I had never been one to attend social events would be an understatement. I sipped my hot cider, not like the Ovemare had had be drink tea. Screw her. I gulped the drink down as if it were sparkle cola. It burned, and I wouldn't be able to taste anything for a while, but I didn't care. The drink was good.

Speaking of sparkle cola, I looked around, checking to see if... Oh, praise Celestia. They had them. A whole table covered with fresh, ice cold sparkle colas was located in a corner. I got up and made a straight line, shaking hooves and patting ponies on the back as I went, to the sparkle cola table.

I popped the cap and took a sip. It felt good on my scalded mouth. I could taste the sweet, fizzy soda as I drained half the bottle. Fizzy. These sodas were fizzy. The other sparkle colas that I had had were not fizzy. They were centuries old. These were fresh! They tasted like liquid rainbow, only not as spicy.

No stallion really knew what the sparkle cola was, so none had tried them yet. One young buck took one off the table next to me and tried to pop his cap off, just as I had done mine. He was having trouble, and resorted to biting the lid to try to pry it off.

"Here," I said. I took the bottle, before he broke his teeth, and took the cap off for him.

"Thank you," he replied and took a sip. His eyes lit up as he grabbed three more and ran off into the crowd. I, myself, grabbed one more and returned to my seat, where I continued to eat the extravagant meal.

Welcome to a feast in a stable. On dull, grey floors; plain walls; uniform seats and tables we made a celebration out of the freedom of everypony. It seemed even the lights shone brighter, and the Stable-Tech logo on the wall seemed to smile. It seemed brighter, happier with the festivities. I saw generations of ponies smiling at me from behind that logo.

I imagined a young, yellow pony with a pink bow in her hair nodding her approval. A white unicorn with a pink mane sang silently along to the music being played over the speaker. An orange pony with a purple mane and... wings? Huh, anyway, she was comparing me somepony with rainbow mane. Telling me that I was awsome, but not quite as awesome as her.

I saw Harvest and the ranks of ponies in the everafter move among the stable ponies. They cherished the cheer and enjoyed the merriment. I locked eyes with Harvest. He gave me a slight nod before disappearing. The last bit of his shadowy appearance to go was is gleaming, friendly smile.

"Gooooooood evening my children of the wasteland!" a familiar voice rang over the intercom.

Everypony in the room looked about themselves their music had just been cut off by some stallion. I smiled and looked to Green.

"Where did you get the music?" I asked.

"You were dead. I went through some of your stuff and found a little box. I pushed a button and it turned on. All I did was hook it up to the stable broadcast system, and Boom! Instant music," he said.

I laughed so hard that I almost fell out of my seat.

"You all might wanna settle in for some storytime, 'cause DJ Pon3 loves to tell stories."

"... and this one coming to you live from New Appleoosa." DJ Pon3 went silent for a moment. Another voice came on.

"All right. Is this thing on?" he asked.

A female voice replied, "Yes, dear. It's on. Go ahead."

"You sure? I can't tell. I don't hear anything."

"You won't hear anything, darling. Just talk."

"Alrighty then, if ya say so. Ahem, hello er, wasteland... Uh, I'm... uh standing here in New Appleoosa, 'cause there was a fight here, ya see. A bunch 'o them Steel Whatchamacallits came through here an' ... uh, well they demanded free beer. Everypony who comes through anywhere knows they ain't gonna get free beer in the wasteland, no sir. They kept yelling at ponies tellin' them to give 'em stuff. Then they started shooting at ponies. Now, we New Appleoosans are definitely no strangers to dangers, what with how close we are to Ponyville. But, uh... try fightin' 'em with that power whatsit and you're gun ain't gonna get ya too far."

"So how did you run them out of town?" asked the mare.

"Well, we just ran 'em out. One of 'em fell over while she was runnin' away. Turns out she killed two of us townsfolk herself. We decided she was a raider in a powersuit 'n strung her up like ya'll c'n see just there."

A sound came over the radio. I didn't sound too unlike _Harvest Time_. Laser rifles were being fired on the other end of the broadcast.

"Oh, shi- *KssshhhhK* They're back!" The broadcast went silent.

"Well, how about that. Now now, folks. Pon3 reporters will look into this incident to find out what exactly is going on. You all know the Steel Rangers don't usually interact with small settlements like New Appleoosa. It's probably just a group of raiders who decided to play dress-up. Most of you know better than to go around demanding free stuff from ponies. But for those of you who don't, don't do it! It's okay to ask for a cap or two if you're down on your luck, but if you go around demanding stuff at gunpoint, you're just another raider. Remember what keeps us together, and we'll prosper, together.

"Here's a little more news headed your way from Manehatten. Some old geezer out in the Fetlocks is claiming to be the reincarnation of Celestia herself. He doesn't have wings or a horn, so we'll see how far his shenanigans go before somepony gets annoyed.

"Anyway, here's Mane Event. Remember the good ol' days."

The music continued the end of Pon3's broadcast. I raised my sparkle cola. "To the defeat of the Overmare!" I called. The crowd of ponies erupted in cheer as I chugged the rest of my soda. It was good soda.

* * *

 **All right. Chapter 37 is done. What do you all thing, huh? A little change of pace from the doom and gloom from the last couple of chapters. Even as I was writing this, I felt happier. Our hero deserves a break, don't you think? Thank you so much for reading and feel free to leave a review.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	38. Chapter 38

"Really? So you were declared dead, and you woke up right before you were put in the recycler?" Cinder asked. Myself and a group of ponies from the party left shortly before it ended and met up at my office. I had relayed the story of everything that happened to me after I traded myself for Gadget and her ponies to Cinder, Green, Gadget, Sniper, Hotshot, and a scorched black stallion named Blowtorch, who had developed a knack for tinkering with metals and wood. The mark on Blowtorch's flank showed him to be EP-16. I decided to leave out my experience with The Dealer and Harvest. On top of all of this, my head was still pounding from my burnout.

"That's crazy!" exclamed Green. "Did you really stab a mare with a knife?"

"She was gonna take my head off," I replied. "What would you have done?"

"It seems that there are some someponies with the Overmare who are sympathetic to our cause," Cinder suggested. She turned her gaze to Gadget.

"If we exploit them, then we could have valuable allies," the older mare said. "From the way I see it. You already have. You traded yourself for over a hundred ponies. Many of whom would see you back to your cells. I'm not professor in military history, but any trade that gives your enemy a hundred fresh ponies for one prisoner would be a poor decision."

"Unless the pony making the decision had little faith in her own side," I pointed out.

"Either way, you're back, alive, and we have more pony power now then we have ever before," Green said.

"Yes. Our ranks are swelling with ponies ready to take it to the Overmare," Gadget agreed.

"Well we can't just run in guns ablaze. As heroic as that would be, we would lose a lot of ponies before we reached a safe position, besides we are, what? One-fifteen? One-twenty? The Overmare still outnumbers us." said Cinder.

"Well what do you all suggest we do? The Overmare thinks I'm dead, so we have that going for us." I said.

"If you're fighting again, it'll be you versus the entire security force. Especially if you lead the charge," said Gadget, bluntly.

"Well regardless of what we do, I'm going to going in, and I'm going in first," I said.

"Then we should put this off for a while," Cinder suggested. "We don't know what those doctors put in your system. From what it seems, you're blood is pumping enough poison to kill a rhino."

"Rhino?" asked Green.

The mares rolled their eyes, save Gadget who chuckled.

"A rhino is a large creature with four legs and a long horn. They were pretty much strictly limited to the Zebra lands before the war," Sniper explained.

Green looked to me, then to Hotshot, who just shrugged.

"It's not important," Cinder said.

"I think a single pony can sit inside the door, and pick key ponies off from the Overmare's forces. Give them a week or two, and they'll crumble from the top down," Hostshot suggested.

"I think the best way would be to blow open some other hatch, some other hallway," Gadget recommended. "That way, we can get behind them, and they'll never see us coming."

"Whatever we do, we ought to do it fast." said Cinder. "The Overmare is going to waste no time in looking for a way to get at us."

As if on queue, the screen behind my desk made a sound like SATS was being activated. I turned around and all eyes in the room trained on the screen. Only a fraction of the large Stallion's Stable had been explored. The living quarters, mess hall, reactor, pastures, water purification, and air recycling stations were all located on four floors. Of those four floors, only the areas around the main stairways had been explored. Vast regions of these levels were still offline and dark.

It was out of one of these dark regions that something came looming. A robotic creature with four limbs that clanked and buckled as it lumbered along. I repeated the same few, short phrases over and over.

"Protect and serve," it said.

The word "Cutietron" was written on the side of its head, and a subname, "Robronco", was written underneath that. As I watched, it waddled down the hall. As it rounded a corner, there was a mare instructing a stallion on power conduit maintenance.

"Hostiles detected," it said. "Surrender your weapons and you will not be harmed."

The mare and stallion exchanged a look, before returning their gaze to their work. A red beam of light shot out of the head of the robopony. It landed at the stallion's hooves, and he jumped back, drawing a combat rifle. He flicked the safety off with his tongue and took aim at the robot. He set the gun to auto, and held the trigger down. The mare, who was only armed with a 9mm pistol hid behind her male counterpart and fired back what she could.

The duo shot up the cutietron robot so much that parts of it exploded off. It fired again, but the shot went wide. Something in the machinery exploded, and the robot collapsed to a heap on the ground.

The mare and stallion stopped shooting and crept up on the metal corpse. She tore off some parts that were still intact.

Something else came out of that darkness. Rats. Three pony-sized rats ran along the floor towards the duo. They reloaded and took aim, just as another beam shot out of the darkness and disintegrated one of the rats. The other two were gunned down by the pair of ponies. Another cutietron waddled out after the large animals. Again, the two made quick work of the robot, but the stallion took a bolt straight to the chest. The shot threw him to the ground.

The mare's pistol got a shot that hit the robot's head. It collapsed like the first one had. The mare threw the wounded stallion over her back and began to run back, away from the dangerous area.

I looked away from the screen and locked eyes with Cinder. All she did was salute and say, "On it." I trusted her to handle the situation. Yikes, those rates were scary though. If the darkness in the stable harbored things like that, what else lurked in the stable's depth. Twisted images of ponies radiated and tainted beyond recognition went through my mind.

"Perhaps we should give our great leader some rest, hmm?" suggested Gadget.

"It's weird that the robots are attacking our ponies. I'm going to look into it," said Green. I nodded.

The crowd of ponies dispersed. I grabbed a tin trash can from the edge of the desk. The migraine caught up to me. The excitement from the party was gone, as was the food that I had eaten. I folded my hooves and laid my pounding head on the desk. I wasn't sick, but this was why unicorns had to be careful with their magic. Burnouts were not fun.

I sat there, sick for almost five minutes. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I raided my head, drool hanging out of my mouth. I pushed a button on the desk with my hoof.

"Who is it?" I gurgled. In my condition, my hoof slipped and it hit the button that opened the door, which was right next to the intercom button. The door opened to reveal the wonderful young mare that had kept me safe in those long weeks.

"Rose," I grunted, wiping my mouth on my clothes and trying to hide the vomit-filled trash can.

"You..." she began.

I couldn't hold it back any more. Tears built up in my eyes as she entered the room, and the door closed behind her. I didn't know what to say. Neither did she, it seemed, for she didn't say a word as she sat down in a chair opposite my desk.

I finally broke the silence. "You're okay."

"I'm fine." she paused. "It really is you causing all this."

"I... yes. I'm the Overstallion," I said.

"Look at you..." she hesitated. "I see you now and can't believe you were that scrawny little stallion hiding in my closet."

"I'm trying to stop your mother," I said.

"That's good. Somepony needs to." she replied.

Another silence fell between us. Tears rolling down my face, I couldn't keep it back any more. I grabbed the trash again and heaved once more. There was no more food in my stomach and all that came up was bile. I dropped my head onto the rim and began to sob. Images of the fighting went through my mind. I saw the doctors that I had pinned to the wall. I saw the maintenance mares fighting to drive the Overmare from their stable. I saw the mare getting dragged into that closet by security. I knew it was all my fault.

"Shhhh..." Rose cooed. She had wheeled her chair around to be next to me as everything leading up to this moment came crashing down. She ran her soft hooves over my head.

"I can't do it," I cried. "I can't keep going."

"It's okay," Rose comforted. "It's all going to be okay."

I could tell that this was not what Rose had come here to do, but this matted heap of a pony was what she had found.

"You never did like the Overmare," she said.

"L- like the Overmare? I have no reason to like the Overamare. S- she forced me into a life I didn't want," I sobbed. "She killed me, Rose. She killed me. She won. Now I've cheated somehow."

"Sshhh," Rose cooed again. She wrapped her forehooves around my head like a mother would a colt. Her chest was soft, and my tears matted it to her skin. Rose's coat was well-groomed. She held me like that until I regained composure enough to sit upright. Almost an hour had passed since she first came into my office.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay," I sniffled. "I've been worried about you ever since all this mess began."

"I've been worried about you too," Rose replied with a faint smile. I tried to return it. She held my hooves in hers.

"... which is why I want to know... Why?" Rose asked. "Why are you putting the stable through all of this?"

"Why am I doing this?" I echoed. "I ask myself that all the time. I'd say it's because I want freedom. I want liberty. I want it for myself and my sons, but that's too selfish. Too many ponies have gotten hurt for that to be a justified reason. Maybe it's because the Overmare is a bad pony, and I need to make sure bad ponies don't hurt good ponies. But if good ponies like a bad pony like her where she is, then am I a bad pony for trying to get rid of her?"

"I don't think you're a bad pony," Rose said.

"I've hurt a lot of ponies," I whispered.

"Sometimes good ponies do bad things," Rose replied.

"I don't feel like I've done bad things though! Everything I know is telling me to drop everything and submit to the Overmare. I was trained to do what mare's say, then die. My heart is telling me to do everything I can to resist her, to not let her win. I feel like every mare I kill is the Overmare, and I don't feel bad about it!"

"So you feel bad because you don't feel bad."

"Yes."

"Look, the Overmare is a bad pony. You need to see this through. Everypony is feeling this right now. I was a gardener. Now I'm apparently a soldier. One of your stallions gave me this."

Rose pulled a kit out of her bag. It was a disassembled 5.56mm combat rifle, not unlike mine.

"Do you think I was happy as a gardener?" she asked.

"Where you?" I replied.

"Yes," she said. "But I know that after all of this, maybe I can go back to gardening. Better times will come from this. I know it."

I felt my eyes beginning to tear up again.

"Ssshhh. None of that now," Rose comforted again. "You have to have the bad days so that you can enjoy the good ones."

I sagged my head as the tears began to come forth again. She still held my hooves. She let go of one of them, and I felt her touch me under my chin. I looked up, expecting to look her in the eyes. Instead, I felt her soft lips touch mine. Her hooves wrapped around me in an embrace. I wrapped my hooves around her. Suddenly I was not crying any more.

* * *

 **Alright, chapter 38 is done. What do ya'll think? I like the last two chapters being a little bit of a change of pace from the rest. What monsters to you think lurk in this stable full of bones? Where do you think this will go? We'll just have to wait and see. The end is near!**

 **Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.**

 **/) Brohoof.**


	39. Chapter 39

Rose had left in a quick rush after our little moment. All I did was stare blankly after her. I didn't feel sick anymore. Wait... there it was. The migraine was back. The moment had passed. I vomited one more time into my bucket, then got up to head to bed.

Harvest had had a good sense of taste when it came to decor. The room stayed dark, as I didn't bother turning the lights on. Perhaps it would have been better had the Nightkiss just kept me, instead of me having to go through with this migraine. Celestia knows how much of that stuff is still inside of me. No, that wasn't the way to think. I needed to keep my mind on better things.

Several dressers, cupboards, stands, and tables lined the room that marked Harvest's residence. Despite imminent painful death via headache and vomit, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to open one of the drawers. 'Just one,' I told myself, 'just one.'

The antique furniture slid open as if it were freshly oiled. Dust clouded, and I coughed. Inside the small drawer, I had not expected to find three more of the orbs, just like the one that I had found in my hideaway. They glowed softly and colors swirled around inside. I would almost consider leaving one out, because they did look beautiful.

The more I looked at them, an idea started to formulate itself in my mind. Perhaps I should give one a go. I hovered my hoof over one, then retracted it. I couldn't decide which one to try. I covered my eyes with one hoof, and carefully maneuvered my other one and grabbed one at random. I was careful, and carried it with my teeth over to the bed.

With a sigh, "here goes..." I tapped the orb to my horn and everything went white.

oooooOOOOOooooo

My migraine was gone. I felt sad.

As the vision came into focus, I realized that I was a lot younger than I had been moments before. I was riding somepony else's memories, just like I had ridden Harvest's. Only, I didn't know who I was this time.

I was in a some sort of house. It looked to be one of the more well-to-do ponies' homes, given the decor. I was sitting at the bottom of a polished wooden and marble staircase, one hoof around one of the poles on the rail. I was wearing a fitted suit with a red tie. My eyes stung, apparently this colt had been crying for a long time. Tears still trickled down his face. It was night, and a pony as young as I was should be asleep by now. I looked on as two older mares were standing in the main doorway, whispering to themselves. I could barely make them out over the sound of the rain outside.

"What are we going to do about him?" asked one, softly.

"I don't know. Are you sure they didn't mention him in either of their wills?" the other mare answered.

"They didn't," the first answered.

"Do they have any family? Anypony we can send them to?" asked the second.

"No, everypony is out fighting, just as they were."

"Celestia bless him. If they were going to go in, they should have done it as officers. They were certainly popular enough among the, ahem, important ponies. They could have been generals, both."

"Yeah, but you knew the old buck. He wouldn't settle for an office job, and she wouldn't let him go anywhere she wouldn't follow. Way I hear it is, Celestia gave them both the honor of general as well as their valor awards."

" Pfft! Fat lot of good an award is to a dead pony."

At these words, the colt I was in clutched the stairs tighter.

"Hush up! You know better than to talk like that!"

"I'm sorry. He's just such a good colt. He's not rowdy like other colts. He's doing fine in his studies. Things like this shouldn't happen to ponies like him."

"He is a good colt, isn't he? Maybe we can put in a word and see if Celestia will take him to her school in Canterlot. I'm sure she'd be happy to oblige, given the situation."

"An earth pony? At a school for gifted unicorns?"

"He could major in potions."

"Yeah, and learn magic from a stripe? Might as well send him to Roam for studies, eh? He'll become one of those stripe-lovers who can't figure out which side of the war they're on!"

"Wow, your sister bother you that much?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a sister... anymore." That last word was barely audible.

"I'm sorry," said the second mare.

"It's no matter. I suppose we should be calling St. Alibay's, then eh?" Thunder rolled deep outside.

"Do we have to do it now?"

"I think we should. We'll tell him to pack his things in the morning. Right now we can let him rest easy."

The colt I was in had no intention to rest easy. He knew this house well, and as he raced up the stairs, he knew just how to land on each board so as to not make a sound. He went to his bedroom and sat at his desk. A book on cockatrices was sitting open, and two more, one on the aeroscience of pegasi and another on the history of maritime engineering, were beside the desk.

He looked in the mirror. A handsome young earth pony buck stared back, sad, but driven and defiant. He smiled slightly through the tear-blurred vision. He was an ebony color with lime-green eyes. His mane was neatly combed over, and his tail was evenly combed. He took a deep breath, then exhaled.

"I'm not going to an orphanage, and I'm not going to pitied by some Princess!" this colt swore. "I'll make my own life, and I'll show them!"

The grieving colt tore his clothes off, and made for his bed. It was one of the fancy kinds with many sheets and curtains. The young colt tore the curtains down and ripped off the bed sheets, tying them together into a makeshift rope. The rope was then tied around the foot of the bed, which was bolted to the floor and ceiling. He made for the window, and thrust his means of escape out. Rain and wind immediately tore through the room. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear, and climbed out into the cold, wet night.

Now that he was out, there were a few more obstacles to overcome. A high wall rimmed the yard of the house, and there was likely a fence around the edge of the property. Out here, I could see the extent of the house in which this colt had lived. This colt definitely belonged to a wealthy mare. Perhaps some city's overmare?

He crept along the wall, his dark coat quickly matted to his skin and kept him hidden in the night. He was able to sneak around to the front of the house. Two carts were there, and the mares' silhouettes could still be seen inside the front door to the house. A fountain dominated the center drive, and a hedge lined the front part of the house.

This little colt made it to the main gate, which was closed, and squeezed through the bars. He then made a dash away from the road towards a wooded path. Drenched now, and wind nipping at every appendage, the colt made the path and kept going. Upon reaching a hill, he looked forward. Through the storm, the lights of a large city could be seen. The carts and buildings shimmered in the wind and rain.

The colt took a moment to look over his shoulder. Come morning, he would not be able to go back. He turned around, and for a moment, I thought he might go back. I didn't know if this pony had any friends, but he was safe in the large house. He should go back. Some pony would take care of him until he was able to take care of himself. I knew I couldn't have done what I had when I was his age. He was too young to be taking on the world. He knew it.

Tears began to well up inside his eyes again. He took a step back towards the house. Two bright lights emerged from the gate, and one of the two mares had gotten into her cart and was heading this way. A moment later, a second cart turned away, heading in the opposite direction. The colt jumped out of the road and hid in the ditch as the headlights seared by.

The colt got up and climbed back onto the road once the vehicle had gone. He looked at the forsaken house once more, then turned towards the city. He continued on in that way for an hour or so. Growing tired, he climbed down into another drainage ditch. This one had a metal pipe running under the road. This was where this young colt decided to bed down for the night. His decision was made. With no parents, instead of looking for somepony else for guidance, he decided he would take on the world alone.

oooooOOOOOooooo

Dizzy from the experience of the memory orb, or at least that's what my pip-buck labelled it as, I set it on my nightstand. I was feeling sick again, and rolled over. I was asleep in seconds.

I was up early the next day, still hurting from my burnout. As it turned out, some of the mares has decided to break open some cases of alcohol in the aftermath of the funeral that had turned into a celebration. As I trotted through the halls, there were ponies laying in the middle of the corridors, reeking of booze and vomit. Given my own experience with other inebriated ponies, it was no wonder that many of the stallions had elected to turn in before things got too intense.

The drinks that the mares had found had been brewed before Harvest and the Overmare had their fight. Without a doubt, it was strong enough to give anypony a buzz. Turns out that there were must have been some heavy drinkers among Harvest's ponies way back when, given the amount that they were making.

I decided to check out some of the facilities that the stallions had gotten online for myself. Stepping over the sleeping ponies, I couldn't get the previous nights events off my mind. Rose had kissed me. Not like she had the night she got back from her party. I had seen a side of her that night that no pony ever should be able to see. Besides, Tide was influencing her then too. No, this time it was sincere, at least I think it was.

Could she have been drunk this time too? I doubt it. I didn't taste any alcohol on her lips. She knew full well what she was doing, which was probably why she left in such a hurry afterwards. She had come to me while I was at my worst, and saw the need to comfort me. Pink Rose was truly an angel among demons.

I had been completely stunned after her kiss. I just sat there afterwards, holding my vomit bucket and watching her go. I should have said something, something to make her feel better. I could imagine her thinking she was taking advantage of me again. I did not want her to feel like that.

I found one of the hallways that had signs all down it that marked each door as pastures. This was the longest hallway that I had ever seen. The corridor ran so far into the distance that I could not see the end. There were doors marked with fruits, vegetables, fungi, and more. There were also some marked for livestock, but I doubted there was anything in there.

I opened the first door. What was inside shocked me.

Tall trees bearing strange fruit spanned from floor to ceiling. Off of them hung bulbous orange spheres. I reached up and plucked one off of the tree. It came off with some difficulty. I sniffed it. Everything seemed in order, so I bit into it. The peel was very bitter, but the inside was sweet and tangy.

"Yeah, I did that too, sir. You're supposed to peel those if you want ta eat it."

I turned, a purple buck was trotting out of the fields. Behind him, I saw Rose. She shied away when she saw that I had noticed her.

"There's a peeler in the kitchen if you want," the young stallion offered.

"Thank you," I said. I licked my lips. "Awfully juicy, isn't it?"

"Sure is, I was talkin' with some o' the mares, 'n they say that there's a way to get the juice without havin' ta chew the pulp," he said.

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

"Sure! I made me some right here. They call it orange juice. Kinda fitting, dontcha think?"

I took a sip of the orange beverage. It was a lot sweeter then the fruit. Then again, I had eaten the peel. I looked around at the orange fruit jungle. If all the pastures were like this...

"We have a bright future ahead of us if we can pull this off," I said.

* * *

 **Hello readers. Thank you so much for reading. I know I promised an ending soon. It is coming up soon, don't worry ;)**

 **What did you think about the returning of the memory orbs? How about the poor little colt? Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	40. Chapter 40

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did. I... I... I don't know what to say," Rose sighed into the mirror. After Gadget and her surviving ponies joined the stallions in their hideaway, they had decided to move into a large bunkhouse. The stallions had cleared an old warehouse and had turned it into a temporary sleeping facility for the mares. Currently, the stallions had set up a similar one a few floors up. Theirs was much smaller. Doubtless, the stallions were hesitant to share a sleeping space with the mares.

It seemed some of them still struggled with a little mistrust. Was it really a wonder why? All their lives these ponies, now in rebellion against the Overmare, had been slaves to the mares' whims. Everything they knew was centered around their training to provide pleasure and recreation. Now they were so much more. Some of the mares were beginning to understand that. Others still thought that they could take advantage of the stallions. Perhaps this was why the males never did anything without another stallion and guns handy.

It had been evident after the party where the Overstallion had returned. Frost Beat had hosted an after-party, done more in the way that the mares always had. This meant there had been booze, drugs, and flashing lights. The stallions had been invited to the rave, but most of them declined. The few that did go, however, were harassed. They tried to pawn it off, but the mares were insistent.

At one point, a group of mares cornered a stallion, and began making him do things against his will. Undoubtedly, it got violent. Fortunately no pony got hurt too badly, but some of the maintenance mares were were going to be spending some time in the infirmary that had been set up in the cafeteria. The stallions left the party after this incident. It also never felt as alive. Its a shame how a few ponies making bad decisions can ruin the fun of everypony.

That was when Rose had gone to see the Overstallion, UP-26, 27, or whatever he decided to call himself. That was another thing. Many of the stallions were starting to take after the mares and find names for themselves. Unfortunately nothing could be done yet about their marks. While mares were diverse and unique, the stallions all had the same marks with ticks to show what number they were.

As for Rose, she had not engaged in the substance abuse that others had at the after-party. That stallion was the only thing on her mind. She had not seen him since he freed her. In doing so, he had turned himself over the Overmare. He knew he was facing death. He knew that there was no way back.

She needed to see him. When she found him, he was sick. The lights were off in his office, and he was leaning over a small trashcan that contained his meal at the feast. He no longer looked like the little, helpless buck in her closet. He was growing up. There was a fire in his eyes, a determination to not let the Overmare win, or die trying to beat her. There was also pain. Behind those glittery, fiery eyes. The stallion was broken.

He had seen death in its purest form. He had been born into the same captivity that every other colt had. Now he was changing who he was and what the definition of stallion meant to everypony in the stable. In doing so, he first had to figure out for himself what being a stallion meant to him, then to the other stallions. Only then could his revolution be complete.

It was under this gaze that Rose had found herself when she entered his office. She had needed to see him, needed to talk to him. When she found him, his gaze took her words away. She tried to come up with something to say, but couldn't. She tried to have a conversation, but what can you do when the stable's hero is crying into your chest?

When she ran out of things to say, Rose had kissed him. A broken, crying stallion, and Rose had kissed him. She shuddered at the thought. It felt dirty. She felt like she had the day after she came back from the party with Tide.

"... I don't know what to say," Rose repeated.

"You don't know what to say about what?" came a voice behind her. Rose looked over her shoulder. Empty Syringe was approaching. Rose had not seen her since before all of this started.

"Sye!" Rose exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Well of course I'm alive. Who do you think runs the medical ponies around here?" Syringe countered.

"Circuit Board told me about the fighting in medical," Rose explained. "She said that it was bad."

Syringe flinched at the mention. "That's an understatement. A lot of ponies died there, Rose."

"We didn't know if you were one of them."

"Well I wasn't, so you can rest easy." Syring took a seat next to Rose, facing the mirror. They were the only two ponies awake in the bunkroom. For now, it was the closest they would get to private quarters. The two ponies sat in silence for a moment.

"Sye?" Rose began.

"What?" Syringe responded.

"What do you think about him?" Rose asked.

"Who?" Syringe replied.

"You know who. The Overstallion," Rose stated.

"I don't know. I don't think about him much," Syringe replied.

"Why not?" Rose pushed.

"I was going to kill him," Syringe exclaimed flatly. Rose looked at her hooves. She had forgotten about that. "I was hesitant, but once I started getting the decommission table set up, it was just like any other operation. I would have killed him and not given it any other thought."

"I kissed him," Rose said.

"What?" Syringe looked at Rose. Her blue eyes were plain and flat. Still through that, Rose knew Syringe well enough to be able to tell when she was surprised about something.

"Yeah. Now I don't know what to say to him. Last time I did something like this to him, I forced him to... ah..." Rose explained.

"I understand," Syringe nodded.'

"Now I don't know what to do. I didn't know what I was doing in the moment. I don't know what's going on!" Rose exclaimed. All of the other ponies were sleeping due in the aftermath of the after-party. They were not going to be waking up any time soon.

"It sucks not knowing, doesn't it? Well, a little bit of enjoyment would probably not hurt," Syringe said. "The colts really do know how to please a mare."

"Not like that!" Rose countered.

"Like what then?" Syringe questioned.

"I don't know. I think about him a lot. That's all," Rose said.

"Everypony has been," Syringe explained. "There's kind of a war going on, and he's leading one of the sides."

"I mean I want to be with him. He was such a good colt when he was living in my room. I would never have expected any of this from him," Rose cried. Syringe raised one eyebrow and looked at Rose questioningly.

"Living in your... never mind. Everypony has their own likes I guess," Syringe said.

"I want to be with him, but at the same time, I feel like I shouldn't be with him," Rose complained.

"Only you can decide what you need. If you want my advice, he's trouble. I don't feel like this is going to end when the Overmare is defeated. If you are looking for a partner, he shouldn't be able to give you anything more than a quickie. I'd look elsewhere if you want an emotional connection," Syringe suggested.

"When the Overmare is defeated?" Rose put emphasis on the word 'when.'

"Yeah, he's lasted this long, I think he's going to pull this miracle off, but you saw how the mares were treating the stallions last night. If one of them gets into power, we could wind up in the exact same situation."

Rose sighed. "You're right. I don't think that will happen though. The stable has changed. Even if the stallions are forced back into the cells. No pony will look at them the same way again, don't you think?"

"I know I certainly won't," Syringe added. "You haven't seen them fight yet." Syringe stared off into the distance, as if she were remembering something very vividly. "And here I was thinking that all those old war stories were just a load of made-up hooey."

Rose looked back into the mirror. Syringe's hooves were starting to shake. A tear ran down the stalwart mare's cheek. Rose wrapped her foreleg around Syringe's shoulder, holding her close.

"Look at me, Rose." Rose turned and met Syringe's gaze. "There are more important things to worry about, okay Rose. We're going to be okay. Don't worry about the Overstallion. He wouldn't be the Overstallion if he were not capable of taking care of himself."

"You're right. Hey, why don't we take a walk. I could use a glass of water," Rose suggested.

"Sure," Syringe agreed

The two mares got up and left the room that had been set aside for the mares to bunk in. They trotted down the halls and found an old vending machine. It was still operational, and it hummed and glowed, providing light to the dark hallway. There were certain times of day where the stallions cut the lights to save power. A reactor may be online, but it was centuries old and had had little to no maintenance. To say it was an understatement.

Rose produced a bit and put it in. Syringe did the same. She got some drink called sunrise sarsparilla.

The two mares were returning to the bunks, but a large cockroach had gotten in their path.

"What the...!?" Rose exclaimed when she say the creature. It had to have been half the size of a pony! Syringe was shocked too. The two mares stood around for a moment, trying to figure out what to do.

"What the hay is that thing?" Rose exclaimed.

"I don't know! I've never seen anything like it!" Syringe replied.

"Well what to we do? It it harmless?" Rose asked. They were still far enough away to not attract the creature's attention, but it was big. It's mouth looked capable of fitting around a pony's hoof. Easily, it could harm a pony if it attacked.

"Yeah hoo!" a pony cried out. A younger buck jumped out from a hallway, and pounced on the giant insect. He rode it for a minute, before stabbing a long pole through the creature's back. The roach squeaked and thrashed as it fought inevitably against the stallion. After a moment, it was dead.

"Whew! Thank Celestia you came," said Rose.

"Awe, it's nothin' just a radroach. At least, that's what my pip-buck calls it," the buck replied. Another stallion came out of the hall that he had come down.

"Come on," the smaller white pony said. "You said you wanted to go to the pastures, not impale giant bugs."

"Hey, I was just clearin' the way for these two mares," said the first stallion.

"Uh huh, sure. You just wanted to use that pipe you found to stab something," the younger pony said. He was smart.

"You're going to the pastures?" asked Rose.

"Yeah," said the first pony.

"Mind if I tag along? I'm a gardener."

The two young bucks exchanged a shrug. "Sure."

"Sye?" Rose asked.

"No, I'm gonna go back to the infirmary. Still got things to do," the blue mare replied.

"Alright then," the first pony said. He led the way, swinging his roach-pole back and forth.

* * *

 **Alighty then. A return to Rose's perspective. What do you all think of the situation here? It seems Rose is unsure about her relationship with the Overstallion. Will she be able to sort this out? What do you think are her feelings towards him? Leave a review with your thoughts. I'd love to read them. Thanks again for reading. I can't believe we're at chapter 40. Our heroes have come a long way haven't they?**

 **Thanks,**

 **Brohoof /)**


	41. Chapter 41

The livestock that was living in the designated fields were strange. They spoke to each other in some kind of language foreign to me. Any attempt at communication was met with various sounds and blank stares. I decided that I had seen enough of the pastures, and moved on.

The water purification system was next on my agenda. I found it cycling fluids, just as it should be. Many of the tanks and pipes connecting the complex machinery had air pockets in them, which I was sure was not supposed to be there. The stallion overlooking it said that they should filter out in time. The machinery just needed to be worked a little bit, given how old it was.

After checking that out, seeing for myself that we had clean food and water, I decided to look in on the generator. I was really concerned with the condition I found it. The magical fusion reactor, was fueled by a megaspell being fed by matter, literally any matter. The spell broke down any compound and absorbed the energy released by the breaking down of the molecules, or so Gadget's engineers told me.

What had my attention though, was all the scorch marks. The room was almost jet black and glassy to the touch. A gaping hole in the side of the reactor had been patched with spare steel plating that was found just lying about. To enter the room and observe the reactor up close, I had to wear a lead-lined suit and drink some sort of potion that supposedly kept my soul from being torn out and getting mixed into the reaction.

The device sounded like thousands of ponies were fighting each other in hoof-to-hoof combat. It buzzed loudly, drowning out any other sound, and was punctuated by constant clanging and grinding. Supposedly this was one of the quietest forms of power generation, but given the condition of the generator and the resources available, it would be pointless to try to make a full repair without a secondary power source to function while this one was off. Even then, parts of the device were melted so badly, that they may be irreparable.

Gadget informed me that at any moment, the reactor could breach. If that happened, the best thing to do would be to seal the room and pray that the lead-lined blast doors could close before the magic and radiation flooded the entire stable at the speed of light. I shivered. We were keeping the lights on with a time bomb that would kill us all in heartbeat. If this kind of megaspell was used to provide power, just what kinds of megaspells could have been designed for warfare? A second shiver went down my spine.

I also checked in on the armory, air recycling, and resource warehouse. Everything seemed to be in order and running smoothly. Mares and stallions were hard at work, hoof to hoof. The stallions were learning remarkably fast at some of the skills and trades that the mares were teaching them. A thought crossed my mind. Would I have to send all these mares back to the other side of the stable after all of this was through?

It did seem logical, to maintain the gender separation that had been instituted by Stable-Tech. After all, their gender experiment had not failed. Power had corrupted one side, and they wanted to control their entire world. I looked at a security camera in the corner of a hallway. I knew that it could be accessed both by the security office and the Overstallion's office. How many more places could it be getting viewed from? Was Stable-Tech watching us right now?

Suddenly, I felt skeptical about all the little security measures dotting the stable. I eyed the camera questioningly, coming around to stare right into its lens. I could have sworn I saw some the inner mechanisms shift as the lens focused. I jumped back. The camera should not focus unless somepony was there to focus it. I stumbled backward and fell over.

I shook myself as I stood up. Still looking at the camera, my mind began to go wild about just what could be on the other side of the lens looking in, seeing the events in the stable unfold. Whoever it was, they must have a heart of stone to watch the tyranny reign for so long.

I completed my round of the stable, and returned to my office. I retrieved the second orb from my quarters and sat behind the desk. Holding the orb in my hooves, I twisted it around and examined its perfectly smooth surface. There was no impurity, no blemish. It was a perfect sphere of swirling color and smokey light. With a shrug, I touched it with my horn.

oooooOOOOOooooo

It was chilly, but not as wet as last time. The stallion that I was in took a long puff on a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. The feeling made me want to cough and gag, but this pony was accustomed to it. He just blew the smoke back out into the cold night air. He was sitting about five to six stories up on the fire escape to some building. The rest of the urban metropolis could be seen over the tops of the buildings nearby.

The night in the crowded city was full of noise. Carts beeped and honked on the roads. Wind sang as it snaked through the buildings. Behind us, the sound of a stallion and mare screaming at each other could be heard through the window and closed curtain. The fighting was occasionally pierced by a crash or a bang. The stallion took a deep breath again and exhaled once more.

"We're livin' the life aren't we?" asked a mare's voice. The stallion turned and looked. A navy-blue mare with a crimson streaks through her flat mane and tail was sitting a few feet next to him. She, too was smoking a cigarette.

"Everypony else should be jealous of us. Not a care in the world," the stallion said. This was the same stallion that I had been in earlier, the one whose parents had been killed in the war. He had run away rather than go to an orphanage. This was the pony that he had become.

In the streen below, a voice rang out. There was somepony dressed in a suit going around and knocking on pony's doors. She was some kind of traveling salespony. From our perch, the stallion watched her as she zig-zagged the alley looking for somepony to buy whatever she was selling.

"Hello young sir," she said at one door. "Haven't ya heard? The zebra menace is developing weapons that would reduce our fair city to rubble. Wouldn't you like a chance to survive total magical annihilation? You can in one of Stable-Tech's state-of-the-art Stables, today. Here's a flier. Call the number right here to reserve your very own spot! Remember, spots are limited, so make sure you call as soon as possible."

The family accepted the flier, then closed the door on the pony, rudely.

"You hungry?" asked the mare. I noticed strange feathers coming off of her torso. She must have been one of those pegasi that I had vaguely heard about. I always imagined them as heroic warriors, going off to fight wars in the name of the Princesses. Then again, I was going off of what I read in the books.

"I could eat," the buck replied.

The mare got up, not taking her cigarette out. She stretched her back, arcing it in a way that looked painful. Then again, she seemed quite agile and flexible. Her wings stuck out, being stretched out as well. The colt took one last pull on his smoke, then spit the butt out. The mare flapped her wings heavily, hovering a little bit in the air.

The stallion held up his forehooves, and the mare grabbed them in a manner that looked practiced and perfected. They duo then lifted silently off of the fire escape. I panicked mentally as the pony was lifted off of solid ground, and dangled by the mare mid-air.

They dropped to about two stories, but kept to the shadows to stay hidden. As the salespony stepped out of the protective light of a lamp, the mare swooped down low. She gave a queue, and the two let go. Falling through the air, the stallion landed on the unfortunate mare's back, causing her to collapse.

The shocked mare tried to scream out, but the stallion never lost his bearing. As soon as his weight crashed down on top of here, he clamped his hooves around the mare's mouth. The mare tried to squirm and flee, but the stallion held his grip. He dragged the poor salespony into another alleyway between two buildings. There were no lights down this one.

The stallion's friend did a backflip, then landed at the mouth of the smaller alley. She produced a serrated blade from somewhere. Twisting it in her hooves, she approached the scared pony intimidatingly.

"SSsssshhh," the stallion cooed, mockingly.

"Look here, you know the way this works?" the mare asked. The business pony shook her head, eyes wide.

"I'm gonna open ya coat, and you're gonna take off all your clothes. We're going to go through them and see what's ours. What's yours, you can keep. And if you don't cooperate..." the intimidating pony dragged the dangerous-looking knife down the pinned mare's foreleg. Blood spilled out of her limb, and she tried to scream. Tears began to stream down her face. In response, the stallion banged her head against the brick wall of the building.

"Am I understood?" The criminal mare asked. The mare nodded vigorously, tears falling off her chin.

Slowly, they began to undress her, going through all of the salespony's pockets and belongings. One of the first things they found was a loaded 9mm pistol with three more clips. Going off of the type of pony the salespony was, I couldn't imagine her using it. I couldn't imagine her even being comfortable with the possession of such an item. Perhaps it was a Stable-Tech requirement, given the part of town and time of day that she was making her rounds.

"Whoa now," said the mare as she pulled the gun out. "You gotta be careful with these things. You'll shot your eye out, or worse... your neighbor's eye." She then put the gun and clips inside the stallion's tail. I noticed the clips and attachments that he had in there and in his mane to hide things like that. Clever, but deceptive.

In all, the two stole the mare's card, fifty two bits, the gun and rounds. Besides that, all she carried was a surprising amount of Vault-Tech propaganda pamphlets.

When the two were pleased with what they had taken, they thrust the mare to the ground without helping her dress again. When she started to scream, the other mare slashed her across the face with her knife, tearing open another long, ugly gash. The mare sat alone, sprawled in a pool of blood, sweat, and tears.

The two criminals ran deeper into the alleyway and jumped across a fence that connected the two buildings. The mare still had her smoke As they made their way back towards a main street, the broken mare's cries disappeared into the city's buzz. They didn't give her a second thought.

On a street corner, a fast-food restaurant was still open. The two ponies entered. The cashier, a grey mare with a black eye, looked like she would rather be anywhere else then behind the fast-food counter.

"What'll it be?" The cashier asked.

"I'll take a veggie-burger with cheese and hay-fries. You, CK?" The dark mare said. CK? What could that mean for a pony's name? Clever Kraggle? Callow Krill? Strange names.

"Eight-piece nugget bucket."

The cashier rang up the order. The mare placed the bits on the counter. Some of them were still wet with blood. The cashier raised an eyebrow, but accepted the bits. The mare just turned around with her legs propped up against the counter, ignoring the cashier's look.

They did their business and left. It didn't smell like the fresh food that the stallions had prepared for our festival. It smelled more like the glop I ate in the cells was warmed, seasoned, and deep fried.

As they walked down the city street, under the night lights and cool equestrian air, they passed a poster on one building. It was a wanted poster. The image was taken from a security camera, but the pony looked a lot like the one I was riding.

"Whaddya say, eh Cop Killer?" The mare asked. "Twenty-three thousand bits, wanted? Word's gettin' around." Oh, Cop Killer. Must be a nickname. Wow, what had this stallion done? I knew this had to be the same body that ran away from the mansion. The pony inside the body was not the same, at all.

"Happens. You know the drill. We hop on a train in the morning and move on. How do you feel about Manehatten? I've always wanted to go see the Big Apple," CK replied.

The mare looked across the eight-lane road. On the other side was building marked Enlistment Office. CK caught her look.

"Oh no, come on Basalt. Not this again. We've talked about this," he said. The mare produced the knife she had used to mutilate the mare. It was caked with blood, only now it had congealed.

"I don't know, Lost Cause. This doesn't feel right,"she said. She sat on the curb and took out the bits, setting each one carefully on the pavement. So the stallion's real name was Lost Cause. Somehow I didn't get the feeling that that was what his parents called him.

The stallion sat down beside her, wrapping one hoof around her. "It's what we have to do. You're the one who taught me that. Remember when you found me behind that diner?" Lost Cause said.

"Yes, but things were different then," Basalt replied.

"How so?" Cause replied.

"We were kids! We shoplifted, what we needed and only what we needed. It wasn't until you got involved with those Blood-Runners or whatever they called themselves, that you started to get violent," she pointed out.

"Okay, so I'm the violent one?" the stallion asked. "I wasn't the one who cut up the mare's leg or face, and we both decided that it was time to step up our game. I took the first step. It became not about what we needed, but what we wanted. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? You're the one who told me this when I wanted to turn myself in after Sparkle-Mart."

"That's not fair, and you know it!" Basalt countered. "Sure, I wanted to get whatever I wanted, and the only way I'm going to get that is by taking it for myself. But there's got to be a better way to go about it."

I felt the stallion starting to get angry. His heart rate picked up.

"We have to take what we want, Basalt. No pony is going to give it to us."

"We could earn it?"

"What about the things you've done, huh? What about all the ponies we've hurt. Somepony will come after you. They'll find you, and you won't be free. They'll lock you up like an animal." Lost Cause said.

"Stop using my own words against me!" Basalt snapped. "It's cruel and manipulative!"

At this moment, three large, pink carts with wiling sirens squealed passed, followed by two police carts. The pink ones had the letters M.O.M. written on the side, as well as the image of a pink mare eyeing me intently. It was the same pink mare from Lens Cap's poster. The siren was actually a very high-pitched pony talking.

"Quick! Everypony out of the way! Somepony's been veeeeery naughty, and we're gonna catch 'em. Yes we are," it said.

The two watched the carts as they raced to the scene of the crime. The criminals were long gone. One of the police carts made a hard U-turn, and came rolling straight towards us.

"We gotta go!" Cause cried.

The two split up. Basalt tore skyward. Lost Cause ran along the street. The police chased after him. When they pulled up along side him, one of them was armed with a heavy shotgun and pointed it at Lost. Apparently a pony with his reputation was not likely to be taken alive.

He drew the pistol he stole from the salespony, and tucked into his chin and rolled over his shoulders as the police fired. They missed and shattered the windows of some boutique. Cause jumped back to his hooves without losing momentum, and returned the shot with one of his own. The shot hit the driver, and the cart spun out of control. It drifted sideways, then flipped side over side and hit a stoplight, exploding and bursting into flames.

Lost Cause's horn glowed softly as he cast his invisibility spell, then disappeared. Once again, he turned down a back alley, and climbed another fire escape into an abandoned parking garage attached to an old factory.

This was where Basalt and Lost Cause had set up a home. Their shelter was comprised of tarps and blankets. A makeshift fire-pit could be seen in a corner. Basalt was already here, cleaning her knife. They didn't talk as Lost Cause dumped his saddle bags, then sat alone on his bed, eating his corn-nuggets.

At some point, he had fallen asleep. The next thing we knew, it was morning. Lost Cause sat up. There she was. Basalt was wearing a military uniform. Her enlistment papers were sitting on a cooler full of booze. She tightened her tie, then turned to Lost.

"Whaddya think?" she asked. During the night she had left and enlisted at the office. I felt Lost getting angry again, but the vision began to fade to white.

oooooOOOOOooooo

* * *

 **Haha! Okay, sorry about the sidetrack. I'm dragging out the ending a little bit, aren't I? Oops. Anyway, what are your thoughts for the sup-plot with the memory orbs? I dunno. I do seriously have an ending planned, and it is coming up, but I'm having some fun with this for now, so we'll see how this goes, eh?. Wow, 41 chapters. Thank you all so much for your reading and support. Really, it helps keep me writing. :)**

 **Brohoof /)**


	42. Chapter 42

I sat at my desk staring at the memory orb. What had that pony become? He would hurt and steal from an innocent mare, just because he felt like it? Was that what the pre-war world was like? Images danced in my head of police chasing criminals around industrial centers turned cesspools of crime and villainy. Extensive prisons manufactured war supplies as ponies labored against their will. Some of them would disappear, perhaps used for experiments. Other times they became fodder on the front lines.

I shuddered. Those were not healthy thoughts to be thinking. There was no way Luna would allow her kingdom to be ruled like that. Neither would Celestia for that matter.

I jumped as the door opened for a security override. In burst Green, Cinder, and Blowtorch. They seemed in a hurry.

"Overstallion!" started Green. "Sorry to bust in so hard. We-"

"We need to use your terminal immediately! No time to talk! It's urgent!" Cinder cut Green off.

"What's going on?" I inquired.

"No time to explain!" Cinder cried. "Blowtorch! Attach your pip-buck here! I'll attach mine here." They both got into position and attached their pip-bucks to the main console via cables that had been hanging out of a slot. So that was what those were for.

"Dang! Still need a password!" Cinder exclaimed. "Please tell me you know it!" Suddenly, my ears were pierced by the klaxons as alarms started going off all over the stable, and the monitor began to flash a red alert. "Hurry!"

In a flash, I typed the reset password in, "INCORREKT." I thought I was clever. Behind me, two medium sized turrets dropped out of hidden locations in the ceilings, along with a heavy, tri-barreled minigun turret.

"What's going on!" I demanded this time.

"I was at a console at a tinker's table, when it started getting all weird!" said Blowtorch over the sound of the ear-splitting sirens. "He was the closest pony, so I asked him if he knew what was going on. He asked this... gorgeous... young mare if she knew! I guess she knew!"

"Shut it Blowtorch, or it'll be more than just that torch of yours doing the blowing!" Cinder snapped.

"Okay..." Turning around, I stared at the big guns, as they scanned the far side of the room. The red glow of the emergency lights, paired with the alarms of the emergency sequence, I felt like the whole stable was collapsing. Suddenly I grew very frightened.

"There! There it is!" Cinder yelled. Her hooves moved like butter over the keyboard.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A mole! The Overmare has a mole in our computer system!" As Cinder answered, another set of words came up on the screen, "Condition Alicorn! Code 4 Stable-Tech Notification. Stable Breached. Stripe Infiltration. Zebras detected: 116. Targeting."

The turrets behind us buzzed as they turned. I threw up a magical shield between us and them. Green stared horrified as the tri-barreled turret hummed its barrel to life and began to spin. The two other turrets had laser sights that focused right between the eyes of myself and Blowtorch, who had now soiled his perfectly good Stable-Tech engineering jumpsuit and matched Green's terrified look. The three of us stared for a moment as we watched our impending doom.

"Almost got it!" Cinder yelled.

The guns warmed up. I activated SATS. Time slowed. The muzzle of the minigun was frozen, mid flash. The bullet was less than a hoof-length from the barrel. The other two turrets were in similar conditions. It was not like I had a weapon that I could do anything with. I toggled between the three targets. All had a zero percent chance to do anything.

Here it was. Unless Cinder could get finished with what she was doing in a fraction of a second, my shield would give, and we would all be gunned down by the Overmare's bug. Huh, how about that killed by a computer. I guess there were worse ways to go. What did I want my last thoughts to be? I saw a ghostly pony shimmer vaguely. I heard the distant shuffle of cards. Oh great, my last thought was of The Dealer. Just what I wanted, a haunting demon to plague my thoughts into eternity or whatever happened after a pony died. Oh, well. Here goes nothing.

I dropped the spell. I heard a click on the keyboard behind me. Several bullets flew in a quick flurry of lead, but my shield did not break. It did splinter though, and spiderweb like broken glass. The few shots ricocheted around the room. The turrets sat motionless. I opened my eyes, which I did not realize I had closed. Smoke slipped from the barrels of the weapons, as they dropped power, and retreated back into the ceiling.

I turned around. The monitor now said "Condition Blue. All Clear. Hostiles eliminated." I could tell from the cameras that we had succeeded in some sense. There did look to be some ponies that had gotten hurt in the momentary chaos.

"Ah ha!" Exclaimed Cinder. "I did it! I bucking did it!"

I turned around, a gleaming smile on my face. "Yeah, you bucking did it! You just saved the stable! From... what exactly?"

"There you go, you little buggar! Aaaaannnd. Delete." She pressed her last button proudly.

"Okay, time to explain," Cinder cleared her throat. "The Overmare keeps moles on all of the computer systems in the stable. They're little applications that can go unnoticed if you don't know how to look for them. It's how she monitors everything, and I do mean everything that everypony does. They can also be programmed to do other things, though, besides monitoring."

"But we're not on her system," Green protested. "How could a mole have gotten into our computers?"

"Luna knows how the Overmare does half the things she does. This one though, was programmed to trick the defenses into thinking that a zebra invasion had occurred, and that we were all the zebras. All I did was trick again into thinking that it had killed all of the zebras, then I killed the mole."

"Wow," said Blowtorch. "I literally understand nothing of what you just said, but its hot."

"Well lets not celebrate too prematurely," I said. I hated to be the one to break the mood, but there was action on the monitors: ponies scurrying, trying to get ponies that had gone down to medical personnel. I wanted to make sure everypony was all right before we got too excited.

The four of us left the room and made our way down to the cafeteria. The triage center was full.

"What the buck is going on!?" demanded Gadget. She had been seared straight down her back by a shot that grazed her. She was laying on her stomach on a table, receiving bandages and treatment from a snow-white mare. I would never forget her face, the mare that I had not killed at the start of all this. "I was minding my own business, sending Buzzsaw to the locker to get some screws to replace a panel, when suddenly the whole stable decides to start shooting us!"

"Did Buzzsaw get hurt?" asked Blowtorch.

"No, Buzzsaw's fine," Gadget said. Blowtorch exhaled a sigh of relief.

"There was a mole," Cinder explained. Gadget seemed to know what that meant.

"Oh..." she replied. "If that's the case, then we can definitely expect more. Gah! I'll have to put ponies in charge of monitoring for moles now? I lost my whole cyberteam when the we lost the auxiliary stable. I'll have to transfer somepony off of maintenance to learn computers..."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I can always just turn the defenses off if the Overmare can use them against us," I suggested.

"Those defenses are the only thing the Overmare out," said Cinder. At this, Green and I both exchanged a look. We were thinking the same thing. We bolted out of the cafeteria, back into the halls, and back to the hole that I had blown open with the rocket. A thick sheet of plastic had been placed over the rugged, blasted doorway. A rubber tube connected to the only hole in the plastic. My heart sank. The Overmare was making a move.

"What is that?" asked Green.

"Gas," I answered. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard a voice on the other side yell, "Release!" I bolted, Green behind me, as a hiss began to sound from the pipe. We ran back up the halls of the stable, Green and I side by side. Everypony else was in the cafeteria, while Cinder and Gadget took a headcount following the mole's takeover. That short, little incident had given The Overmare enough time to spring a trap that would potentially give her the edge. Now I began to understand what Lens Cap had said about this being a game. There were moves and counter-moves. The Overmare had dealt the game. Time for me to to beat her at it.

Green and I reached a dilemma. The weapons and armor storage was two floors up. If there was going to be a gas mask, that's where it would be. The cafeteria was on this same level. I only had time to warn everypony else, or get to the gas mask.

"You go get the masks!" I barked at Green. "I'll warn the rest of them."

"No, I'll warn them!" Green argued. "You get the mask. I know you know what to do!"

I really didn't, but if we stood around here arguing over who would get the masks, then the gas would catch us, and it would be pointless. Green went left, towards the cafeteria. I went right, towards a staircase. I tripped over the skull of one of the long-dead stallions, but made it to the stairs in time. I sealed the door, and moved up to the next level.

I burst into the armory. There had been no gunfire from turrets in here, as there were no turrets. The designers probably did not want the ammunition accidentally getting shot. Nonetheless, I found the hoard of gas masks. I also grabbed some combat armor just in case, fitting it on over a thick jumpsuit. If I knew the Overmare, something would be up. I slipped the mask on over my face. A canister of clean air hissed as I attached it to the spot on the mask that matched the diagram.

Upon unsealing the door to the hall, a burst of wind almost knocked me off my hooves. My mask showed that the air was now unsafe. I felt my heart pound as I looked at the stable through the lenses of the gas mask. Everything looked the same, yet felt different on my coat. It was like moving through water almost. The air felt thicker.

I figured that at this point, anything that was going to happen to the ponies would likely have already happened. As such, I decided to go up another level. I found my office, and grabbed _Harvest Time_. The reliable rifle still had three dozen shots left. That's one and a half charges in the cells that had come with it upon opening the case. I grabbed my revolver, my trusty sidearm, and the carbine. I elected to leave the assault rifle, shotgun, and sword. Whew, I had acquired quite an arsenal.

After I had grabbed my guns, I made my way back to the cafeteria. As I had believed, the ponies were scattered all over the floor, out cold but alive. It looked like there had been a panic after Green had come back, from the way the ponies were laying around the doors, and the bruises on some of their bodies. In total, I had with me about a dozen masks. I fixed one to Cinder, Gadget, Green, Blowtorch, and any other pony that was lying near them.

By the time that I had finished, I heard the generator fizzle. The lights went out. The Overmare must have another bug in the stable. I drew _Harvest Time_ and began to make my way back towards the origin of the gas, carefully. I poked my head around the corner right as a team of six mares, also gas masked stepped over the plastic sealant and entered the stable. Their masks were infrared, and had a light on it. No fair. Theirs was cooler.

" _Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!"_ sang _Harvest Time_ as I fired upon the squad of ponies with the help of SATS. They panicked and fired back with assault rifles, their shots went wild and filled the halls with ricocheting lead. Another team came through the opening, and added their shots to the chorus.

"It didn't work!" cried one mare.

"Abort!" Screamed another.

"Shut up! It's not a gun! It's a Pony!" yelled a third. They clearly had not expected to get shot at as soon as they came through. I pulled a pin on some stick with blue tape and a lighting bolt on it, and threw it around the corner. I closed my eyes and looked away, still hiding around the corner. There was a small "pop" followed by more screaming and blind firing.

"Flash bang!" yelled one of the lead mares.

With the party blinded, I started firing. " _BZZT!_ _BZZT!_ _BZZT!_ _BZZT!_ _BZZT!"_ I didn't stop. I couldn't tell if it was because there was a hole in my mask, or what, but tears started to fill my vision. I fired _Harvest Time_ until the shots ran out. The cell popped free, and I loaded the next one.

"Stay out of our stable!" I cried over the shooting. Then I just began to scream, keeping the bolts in the same direction. After a few minutes, I noticed the mares stopped shooting. I blinked my eyes to clear the blur, and I saw twelve fresh corpses, scalded and burned where the laser had cooked their flesh. In a narrow hallway, sometimes room to move around outmatched large numbers.

"Uh uh," came a voice on the other side of the plastic. "I'm not going in there. Buck that!"

I sat there for a moment. There was some arguing on the other side, but it seemed like the day was won. The Overmare's ponies were too afraid to try to come past the plastic.

I heaved a deep breath of smelly, centuries old air. At least it was clean. I picked up any usable equipment off of the mare's corpses. The guns, ammo, masks, and armor all seemed usable. Finally, I trotted up to the hose connecting the gas talisman to the plastic sealant, and pulled a portion of it through. I tied the hose into a knot that would not allow any more gas to flow, should the talisman be reactivated. With that, I left to head for the reactor. There had to be some way to get the lights on and air circulating again.

* * *

 **Whew, this one is finally done. I know its not quite as good as some of my other chapters, but eh. What do you think? The Overmare gassed the rebels. The Overstallion actually managed to scare the security ponies out of their objective. Some loyalty there, huh? What about the moles in the their security system? The Overmare is just absolutely everywhere, isn't she?**

 **Thanks again for reading! Don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts. XD**

 **Brohoof /)**


	43. Chapter 43

"Umm..." I said, as I looked over the control console for the little reactor that we had been using. Gadget had briefly explained to me how to use this stuff. In hindsight, I probably should have payed more attention. There was a big red button that dominated the console. I was debating whether or not to push it.

"Oh well, on one hoof, if I don't push it, security will try to come in here again. If I push it and it turns to be a self-destruct button... Either way, we're screwed if I don't try something," I mumbled to myself. I pushed the button. I panicked for a moment, as the reactor began to hum. The black-stained metal casing cracked and popped. I relaxed again as after about a minute, the humming stabilized, and the rest of the electronics of the stable flickered to life.

I opened up a terminal on the console and found the mole, still in sleep mode, nestled quietly in the control code of the reactor. I killed it with a prompt delete. Once that was taken care of, I heard a hissing from the air ducts. The air recycling system would work out the gas in the stable.

Meanwhile, I figured that while the rest of the stable was getting their beauty sleep, I would go... do... something. I made my way out of the reactor and found the central stairway, leading to the other floors of the stable. I went up, and headed for my office.

The mask beeped, and a little light in the side of the mask turned green, showing that the air was already clean. I took a deep breath, appreciating the just-as-recycled air. Still, it seemed somewhat more fresh then air substitute in the mask. Hanging the mask on a hook on the wall, I entered my office and went to take a seat at my desk. Bullet holes had dented some parts of the walls and desk, but fortunately none of the art pieces or decorations were too seriously damaged, save one painting of an officer clad in an Equestrian military uniform. Behind him, the equestrian forces were bearing down on a hoard of zebras. In the skies, massive airships exchanged laser fire, while also bombarding the troops with explosives. The 5mm round from the minigun had gone straight through one of the zebra's zeppelins.

I rubbed the bullet hole with my hoof. Some things never change. It had been hundreds of years since the war, and we were still shooting at them. I shook my head disapprovingly.

I found the third orb from the display case, and finally took a seat at my desk. "Here goes nothing," I said to myself as I touched the orb to my horn and felt the world melt away.

oooooOOOOOooooo

The first thing I noticed was how bright everything was. My eyes would have burned in the bright morning sunlight. I was taken aback by how large the world was. In the warm morning glow, I could see forever into the clear blue sky. Compared to the toxic yellow I had seen outside the stable, it was pure and clean. Some fluffy white clouds danced in the expanse, while others were more sleek and windswept. Lush green trees lined the opposite side of the rail-yard. Birdsong sang in the distance, not the repetitive track they play in commons, this was real birdsong, present and unique.

A machine, massive, powerful, and intimidating, dominated the tangle of tracks. It was dark iron, and a large cannon sat atop the main boiler, which steamed gently. The locomotive was a war machine, with four smaller turrets equipped with smaller machine guns that granted the user complete one-eighty degree coverage. The cars behind the engine were lined up with a station some distance behind.

Lost Cause sat on the edge of what appeared to to be a wooden box that was left four tracks over from the train at the station. There was no sign of Basalt. The front right gunner of the train eyed Lost suspiciously. In return, Lost gave the pony a steel glare, making her uncomfortable. She decided that the loading mechanisms on her gun were more interesting and in need of some maintenance.

Lost sat in silence, closing his eyes for long moments every so often. I wished he would have left them open. I liked looking at the beauty of the pre-war world. Eventually, there erupted a loud sound from the engine. About five minutes later, there was another sound, signaling its departure. The train's bell rang twice, then the engine huffed. A metal beam stretching across all of the armored wheels began to move, and the massive machine began to lug along the track.

Lost looked up, the train once again attracting his attention. I saw why. It was packed with young ponies, all wearing uniforms. They were waving goodbye to their lovers, friends, and family, who had crowded at the edge of the station's platform. Pegasi flew to steal that last kiss before their beloveds went off. There was Basalt. Her eyes locked with Lost's. I felt the disapproval in his face. She did too, but Basalt stuck out her chest defiantly and looked away.

Lost watched the train haul out of the station. It was going much faster as the last few cars pulled away. He continued to stare at the spot where Basalt had looked away, even after the thunderous sound faded into the distance.

"Goodbye, Basalt," Lost said under his breath.

Another sound signaled. This was much higher than the previous one. Lost poked his head out and saw his engine. It was much smaller than the massive military transport that just left, but it was still bigger then the stable's reactor.

Lost closed the boxcar's door, as he saw that the train was beginning to leave too.

"Big Apple, here I come," he said. "I wonder if I can hook up with this mysterious Mob Queen Melody I've been hearing so much about."

"Ha!" laughed a grumpy old voice, hidden in the darkness in the back of the car. "No, you won't."

Lost looked to the back of the car. "... and why not?"

"'cause you're not gonna," the voice coughed.

"If I'm gonna talk to you, I would like to see who I'm talking to. Come into the light," Lost said. At his request, a raggedy old thing, with a beak and feathers lunged forward, into a beam of light. Two of his legs were replaced with metal and gears, and an eyepatch was placed over his left eye. He looked to be part bird, part cat.

"A griffon..." breathed Lost.

"Aye, what of it?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just that all of you were on the front lines, ya know, working for the highest bidder," Lost snickered, looking away.

"Hehe, yeah. I guess we do kinda do that, don't we?" he sighed, looking away too. An awkward pause filled the car. It jolted as the train began to move, almost knocking Lost off of his hooves.

"So why aren't I going to hook up with a gang? They've got money, friends, food, anything I could ever want. Why don't I just go join the mob?" Lost inquired.

"Because its not right," the griffon replied.

"And how do you know what's right or wrong?" Lost snapped. "You don't know me at all! Maybe I'll be bringing my life up a few pegs. I'll give money to orphans or whatever."

"I don't know you. But I did see the way you looked at the mare. I know, because I once gave the same look to the prettiest young chick you ever did see. But your mare, she's a fine mare, she is," the griffon said.

"Tch! Yeah. I've seen her do things that anypony would be ashamed of," Lost added, rolling his eyes and glaring at the griffon.

"You're right. She is ashamed isn't she. And so are you."

Lost took a step back. "Ashamed? I am not ashamed of anything that I have done. You don't even know of anything I've done! You're just some old bird sitting in the back of a box car going wherever the train will take him!"

The griffon was unaffected. "What if I told you I were a prince?"

"Why in Equestria would a prince be riding in a box car?" Lost refuted.

"Maybe this is just my preferred mode of transport. I get to meet all sorts of colorful ponies, such as yourself."

"No, you're not a prince," said Lost. The train was once again locked into silence for a moment.

The griffon broke it. "You're going to follow her, you know."

"No I'm not. Signing an enlistment would be me signing my death warrant," Lost snapped.

"I said those same word to my Grandbirdie," said the griffon.

"And?" asked Lost.

"Spent eight years in the equestrian army. Signed on as a volunteer, not a draft. Fought in The Desert, The Trenches, and The Meditailannean Sea before that darn kraken got in there."

"You're lying," Lost protested.

"Am I?" asked the griffon. "These wounds come from drug abuse, son? Domestic violence?"

"I've given much harder ponies than you much worse!" Lost snapped.

"I'm sure you have."

"No pony comes back from that war alive. It does. Not. Happen," Lost argued. "And you're not a prince."

The griffon lurched, bending over. His old bones and mechanical limbs creaked as he reached for a sack. Lost just sat there like an idiot, watching the elderly bird reach for his things. His bony foreleg found the sack and he pulled it closer, reaching inside, and pulling out a seal.

"...the mark symbolizing the royal family of the Sultanate of Saddle Arabia."

"You stole that. The Saddle Arabians are ponies. Not griffons."

"I saved the Sultain's daughter after she was captured by the zebras. They were going to blackmail the Saddle Arabians into attacking Equestrian Shipping. It was a secret plot that I stumbled upon when me and my team ambushed a convoy out in the dunes. I was the only one who recognized her from the picture of the Sultan's family we were required to have at all times while in the country. I personally saw her returned home. In return, he made me an honorary member of the royal family.

I guess you don't have to believe me. I'm just an old cook sitting in the back of a train car, watching life go by, right?"

oooooOOOOOooooo

With that, I found myself once again sitting at the Overstallion's desk. The "clicket-clack" of the trains was gone, and replaced withe the steady hum of the generator. The glorious blue sunshine was gone too. In its place was the yellow, fluorescent, stable-tech lights. I sighed. Too bad that that was a world long gone.

* * *

 **Ah, Chapter 43. Glad to be making progress. What do you all think of this little subplot with Lost Cause. Hopefully it'll be a little something to spice it up a bit. What do you all think lies in store for The Overstallion, or for Lost? Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts. Thank you so much for reading**

 **Brohoof /)**


	44. Chapter 44

I set the previous memory orb aside and spun my chair around to pull up the Overstallion's terminal screen. I was able to navigate the green lettering to find a live security feed coming from the cameras around the stable... well, the ones that were active. I was looking to see if the Overmare's security ponies were coming through again. It didn't look like it, not with the turrets up and running again.

I did see the pile of bodies that had been the result of _Harvest Time_ and something that the security ponies had called a flashbang. A sound replayed in my mind. At first, I thought it was just the stable, but then I recognized a voice. I heard the screams of those doctors as I blasted open the door to that operating room and pinned them to the wall. I heard my guns buzz as I riddled them with lead.

I slammed my eyes shut as the screams faded. In their stead, that horrible silence of a room that had just been filled will living, breathing ponies now devoid of life. Through it all, I heard the hum of the generators.

I opened my eyes slowly. The dull ache of my burnout was still vaguely present. The room seemed darker than it had been before. Maybe it was just my imagination. I stood and went out into the halls. I needed something to drink.

Around the corner was a vending machine. Instead of prying it open, I used the little gold coins that I had found in the Overstallion's desk and followed the instructions listed on diagrams posted on the side of the machine: putting the coins in, pressing the Sparkle-Cola button, and poof! Out of the bottom, an ice cold Sparkle-Cola fell without the hassle of trying to break into the machine. Now I will need to find out what to do when I run out of these bits...

It's a problem for another day. I took a swig of my soda to calm my nerves.

Back in the office, I found the chest that my armor and weapons were stored. My carbine was still there, my sword, the revolver, the twelve gauge shotgun, and on top was my SMG's. Those were the guns that fired the first shots, the ones that had started it all, well, save the one I stole. They hadn't been used much. Most of my weapons were still in pretty good condition.

My armor, on the other hoof, was beginning to look a little worse for wear. It was riddled with bullet holes and burn marks, and the visor on the mask had a piece of shrapnel of some kind lodged in the plastic. How did that get there? I still thought it looked... in a way... awesome.

I hear a little voice in my head go, "Awe yeah!"

I looked around the room to try to see who had said that. Once again, I was hearing things. I took another swig of the cola and returned the memory orb to the drawer it had been for so long. I drew the next one out. At least when I'm in a memory orb, I don't hear things that aren't there.

I took one last look at the security monitors. Nopony what trying to get in, and the rest of the ponies were still out cold in the cafeteria. I shrugged, guessing it wouldn't hurt to see once more.

oooooOOOOOooooo

Running. That was the first thing I felt. It was faster than anything I had felt before. As the world of the orb began to materialize, I realized that I was still in Lost Cause, Cop Killer, or whatever this pony's name was. And he was running... from police.

The sirens on the chariots wailed and ponies flew overhead trying to pinpoint his exact location as he dodged stoners and homeless down the back alleys in some big city. I caught a glimpse between two buildings, there was a large green statue holding a torch to the sky. Apparently, Lost had seen it too.

"Welcome to Manehatten..." he gasped to himself. The sirens were getting closer.

Around a corner Lost went. As if he had anticipated it, there was an open dumpster. He leaped over the side and landed on a soft bad of smelly gook and spoiled food. The lid of the dumpster slammed shut.

The sirens outside came closer until they were practically blaring right on the other side of the aluminum frame of the dumpster.

"Do you see 'im?" came a female voice on the other side.

"Nah," said another. "Must've gone another street over."

"Fan-friggin'-tastic," said the first voice. "... and we so close to finally catching him! Do you have any idea what it would mean for out careers if we actually managed to bring this guy in?"

"Promotion?" asked the second voice as they were heading away.

"That and much more! Street cred, pay raises... Just imagine the possibilities!" The two voices faded out of earshot.

When Lost felt that it was safe to come out, he opened the top just in time to see a little filly in an apron taking out the trash for the restaurant that he had hidden behind.

"Oh! Thank you! Keep up the good work squirt!" Lost reached down and took the garbage from the filly and pulled it back inside the dumpster and closed the lid again. He chuckled softly to himself as the filly ran off, clearly unsure about what had just happened. When the moment had passed, Lost finally dragged himself out of the can. He was mumbling to himself.

"Stupid mafia... told me all I had to do was watch the back door. Then the freaking cops showed up... How did they know we were there, anyway?"

A poster of Lost on the side of a building on the alleyway explained it all. The wanted poster showed a crude mugshot, likely from early on in Lost's career on the street. He was worth eight-thousand bits dead, ten-thousand alive.

A light bulb came on inside Lost's head as I felt his expression change.

"The money! Those rats set me up to turn me over to the police for the reward! I should've known a freaking bank heist as a newbie was too good to be true. I thought they would have just accepted me with a rep like mine. Screw the Mad Mare Mafia!"

There was an aluminum trash can next to the dumpster. He bucked it so hard that it crashed against the building and dented almost half-way through. As the pegasi started coming back across the skies, Lost found cover to try to say out of their direct line of sight.

Lost stayed in the back alleys smelling like bad pizza and stale grease for a few hours. Finally, after the sun went down, he made his way down to the wharf on the edge of Manehatten Island and went for a little swim.

The air was cool and brisk as a night breeze swept in off of the Great East Ocean. Lost a stretch of dock that was not being lit by lanterns, streetlights, or any other sort of lighting that would make him easily visible. With clothes still on, he leaped off of the pier and into the salty water.

First, the fact that there could ever be so much water in one place was completely astonishing. My experience with the wonderful fluid had always been for drinking or cleaning wounds. Add the fact that I didn't know how to swim and I was very happy that Lost was accustomed to this sort of thing.

Even his little swim/bath was cut short as a security guard saw him in the water and told him to get out. When Lost did, he ran. The guard called for help and chased Lost back into the city. Compared to the police earlier, the guard was easy to lose.

Still, huffing and puffing from running away for so long Lost found himself hiding on the other side of a fence that spanned two massive brick buildings. He relaxed as the security guard ran right past his hiding spot without him noticing.

Lost sighed. "Why can't I just catch a break?" he whispered to himself. Looking through a hole in the picket fence, there it was, staring him right in the face. Another enlistment office was situated right across the street, lights flashing and posters up in the windows. They were the same posters that had been in the one Basalt had gone to. I saw the one of that pink pony staring with that haunting smile. **PINKIE PIE IS ALWAYS WATCHING** it read.

"Ugh, no. Why?" Lost growled to himself. "Why does it have to be there? I vowed that there was two places that I would never go. The enlistment office and prison." He looked again at the office across the street and sighed.

"I guess if it was good enough for you, it should be good enough for me, but you know how I feel about that place."

He took one more look at the building across the street. I kind of understood where he was coming from, avoiding that building. Eveypony he had ever cared about had enlisted. They would get on a train, go away, and never come home. Just like Lost's parents. Just like his other relatives. Just like Basalt.

Lost looked up. The moon was shining clear directly above him. It was a full moon. If I hadn't known any better I would have said that a pony's face on the celestial object winked at him. I felt Lost tense as his body made ready to move.

He hesitated.

Looking over his shoulder at the dark alley behind him, he called out to the shadows. "Is anypony going to stop me?"

There was no response from the dark, empty space.

"I'm about to go off and die just for the sake of it."

Lost took another look through the hole in the fence. The enlistment office was still right there, open and inviting. Lost slouched against the building. I could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"What happened to us making the world our playground? I'm free to do as I wish aren't I? Why would I give this up?"

He held his hooves out. They did not even resemble the hooves of the poor orphaned colt that ran away. These were calloused and scarred. It was as if rivers of the blood he'd spilled had shaped his hooves. He shuddered as he looked at them.

"There's no pony else here with me now. I'm all alone."

I could relate to being alone for a long time. It was definitely not a pleasant experience, but then again, he had the freedom for himself to do what he desired. He could join up, couldn't he? And if it was really that bad, he could leave, right? That's the freedom that matters, being able to say 'no' to something that you don't want to do simply because you don't want to do it. Of course there's more to it than that.

I guess in a way I envied Lost. His decision was a tough one, that was for sure. If I were in his situation I wasn't sure what I would do.

Lost took one final look through his peep hole in the fence to check if the building was still there. It was. He sighed again

"Well, what's the alternative? I go around and hurt somepony? At least this way I won't have to hurt anypony any more. At least no pony who doesn't deserve it. The only pony getting hurt is me. Alright, time to do something."

Lost got up and leaped over the fence with practiced ease and made his way across the road. At this hour of the night, there was very little traffic on the road. His route was direct.

Lost opened the door and stepped inside the brightly lit office. At a main desk was a uniformed mare typing away on a terminal. She was yellow, like a dandelion yellow with a green mane tied into a bun. Her hat was sitting on the desk beside her.

"Hey there," she said as Lost entered. "Welcome to the Manehatten Harbor enlistment office. Something I can help you with, sir?"

"Yeah," Lost replied. "Where do I sign up?"

"At this hour? Are you sure?" asked the mare.

"I'm positive," Lost answered.

"Okay," she produced a clip board with a sheet of paper on it. " Just fill this out. You can have a seat by the window if you like, there are quills and inkwells on the table."

Lost did as he was instructed. I could feel his joints locking and shaking. He was signing his life away. Everything that he had done up to this point, most of which I could imagine would not allow him to enlist if he were honest. He wasn't honest.

Lost lied on every line of the form, even going so far as to call himself Worthy Cause now instead of Lost Cause. There was a big sign on the wall on the side of the room. It read, **Remember, It Is Illegal To Lie On Your Enlistment Form**. Beneath those words was a footer with a picture of the pink mare, who I assumed was Pinkie Pie, going off the posters outside. **Always Watching,** it read.

Cause placed the clip board back on the counter. The mare looked it over. She raised an eyebrow, quizzically.

"Do you have your birth certificate with you?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Work permit, carriager's license, any form of I.D.?"

"Nuh-uh." Cause replied.

"I see. You also left your address blank, and you crossed out you family name line."

"Yep." Cause confirmed.

"If I had seen this a few weeks ago, I'd have turned you away. Now, though, we're accepting anypony willing to do their part. The paperwork is more of just a courtesy thing. All right. I'll process this. There's a doctor four doors down the hall on your right. He'll give you your physical and tell you what to do from there. Welcome to the service."

The last thing I remember was her reaching a hoof across the desk to shake with Cause.

oooooOOOOOooooo

I thought about the orb for a moment after I had come out of it. Basically, Lost had decided that there was nothing worth living for on the streets, and his enlistment was pretty much just an elaborate form of suicide. I shuddered at the thought. I wondered how far he got? I considered picking up the next orb, when my stomach rumbled.

"Eh, maybe I eat first," I decided.

It was so eerie, wandering the halls of an entire stable by oneself. I mean it was eerie before, when I had been trotting through here before by myself, bu this time, there it wasn't like I was walking through a dead place. Sure there were bones from the old stallions still littering the halls, no pony had gotten around to clearing them just yet, but the stable was alive.

This time, there was the hum of a generator, lights, pipes, vents, and all sorts of things breathing life into the stable. I knew that there was no other conscious pony in here but me, but still... I peeked around every corner, every hallway just to make sure. Something just wasn't sitting right. It's that feeling when you know that there's no pony else around, but you still feel like there is something there, watching you... stalking you.

In the kitchen, I found the leftovers from our little feast the other day and made myself a plate. Then I warmed it up in the oven. How do ponies use this? Preheat to... ah, I dunno. I just set it to hot.

Finally, alone, I sat down to take a meal in the kitchen all one-hundred-and-something ponies were lying unconscious where they had been standing when the gas hit. Most of them were in the triage center. Doctors were leaning over tables-turned-hospital beds.

Gadget was laying next to Empty Syringe. Circuit Board and Rose were nearby. Officer Cinder was on one of the beds. Apparently, she had taken at least three bullets. Many ponies were wounded from the mole's damage, but fortunately nothing seemed fatal. I even saw Hotshot and Sniper sitting in the corner. It seemed like had been nursing the spot where a bullet had torn through Hotshot's foreleg.

I chuckled at the scene. It was almost peaceful.

Then I felt something. I sneaky something in the back of my mind, like something I had feared for a long time. Only now I had an opportunity to do something about it. I saw Gadget lying there. There it was, that feeling. A blind rage. Animosity. Not towards anything she had done, but simply because she was a mare. And so was the Overmare, and that was bad.

My stomach churned at the thought. I trusted Gadget, to an extent, I had heard what she would do to us stallions as soon as she became Overmare. I couldn't allow that to happen. I could ensure it right now. There's nothing stopping me.

"Do it!" Whispered that sneaky little voice in my head. "Do it and she'll never be able to do anything to you ever again."

Gadget's face shimmered for a moment. Then it turned into the face of a demon. The Overmare was sitting back, giving me that demeaning smile. I drew my revolver and began to stand up. I couldn't take this.

I was interrupted as something hit the side of my face.

"Ow."

A card, a two of hearts was sitting on the table. It had been thrown, and cut the side of my face just enough to be painful. I rubbed the cut gingerly while looking back over my shoulder.

"Was that really necessary?" I chastised.

The Dealer shrugged.

"I thought it might get your attention."

"Well you've got it now. What do you want?" I demanded.

"Oh, just to talk."

"You've go that. We're talking."

"Don't do it. You're forgetting how to play the game," The Dealer said.

"Oh? How so?" I asked.

"Don't fold your cards prematurely. Gadget over there is in your hooves now. She played her round and lost. Now all her bits are in the pot, and her cards are yours."

"I just have a bad feeling about her, is all," I explained. "I don't know what she's going to do or what she's got planned."

"You mean the same way that the Overmare had a bad feeling about you?" The Dealer countered.

"Now hold on! I haven't locked up ponies for centuries like she has!" I retorted.

"But weren't you about to kill her just because she's a mare?" The Dealer pointed out.

"N-no I was just... going over there to check on her."

"Don't lie to me, kid," scolded The Dealer.

I shrunk like an ashamed child. "Sorry."

The Dealer grunted. "Remember what happened last time you killed in cold blood?"

The scene at the operating room replayed inside my mind. The busting down of the door, the running, the screaming, the killing, the bleeding...

"Stop it! Dealer make it stop!" I cried.

"Never forget what you fight for, never forget the sacrificed that have been made, and most importantly never become the evil that you set out to destroy."

The visions faded.

"You'll get your chance at justice. You will."

I blinked and The Dealer was gone. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw stirrings among the unconscious ponies.

"W-what happened?" groaned Officer Cinder.

* * *

 **Hello my lovely readers! I'm back with chapter 44, finally. There was a lot in here with Lost Cause enlisting and our hero going on a little adventure the the sleepy stable. What did you all think of this chapter? I know I've been gone a while, but I've been making a little transition. We'll see how it goes.**

 **Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.**

 **Brohoof! /)**


	45. Chapter 45

"Why won't they just stop?" The Overmare demanded.

"Perhaps you're not going about the situation in the right way?" answered her adviser. The ancient mare was looking at a tapestry from before the Stable had sealed. Supposedly it was a map of the stars drawn by Princess Luna herself.

"Then what is the right way? Do I need more ponies? It doesn't do any good when they run away from sleeping ponies without a leader!" The Overmare whirled around and snapped.

"What am I leading, a stable to cowards?" she added as she turned away and faced out her window, overlooking the commons area. Her garrison was ready. Heavy weapons were armed and pointed at the hole in the wall. That hole that had been staring at her for weeks. Anypony who got near it got blown apart by weaponry designed to punch holes through zebra battletanks. Even crumpled suits of powerarmor lay strewn around that hall. The gas talisman and plastic covering had been removed, ever so carefully.

"No, a stable of mortally terrified ponies," answered her adviser. "They are ponies, Overmare, not pawns for you to throw away."

"Maybe if I made more fight, they'd appreciate the need for stability," the Overmare added. "Tell me, witch, what do the stars say is required for us to defeat our enemies?"

"These stars are old. They only speak of fire and taint. Perhaps if we stepped outside..."

"No! Nopony goes outside! Especially now that the bucks are escaping."

"Then I am afraid the fate of the stable is sealed," stated the astrologist.

"My stable. It's my stable and I'll decide what the fate of it is," The Overmare rounded on her adviser again.

"Then fate of your stable is sealed. Things will continue as they do if you continue to follow the path that you are on," the adviser prophesied.

"No, I just need to adjust my strategy. Go. Send in that traitorous security chief. I'll have a word with her. Then go fetch that new little grey buck from medical. All this talk of fighting is making me flustered. I need to... relieve some stress," The Overmare demanded.

"You are a fool if you thing this going to end in a way favorably to you," the adviser added.

"Out!" The Overmare replied.

* * *

"... So you came back here instead of coming back to check on us in the ward?" asked Cinder, disapprovingly. I helped get everypony back on their hooves after the gas attack. Medical personnel was treating the injured from the turret cyberattack and headaches, nausea, and other side effects brought on by the Overmare's gas. Once the first ponies who were relatively unharmed from the attack began to return to their duties, Gadget, Cinder, Green, Empty Syringe, and Blowtorch met me in my office.

"Well yeah. I figured that anything it would do to you would already be done," I answered bluntly

"What if it had killed us? You could have brought a mask down! You could have saved somepony besides yourself!" Cider glared, accusingly.

"Okay okay. What's done is done. Nopony was harmed, and the Overmare didn't capture us all while we took our little nap," Gadget said, calming the situation. Cinder huffed at the change of topic.

"Well, in light of that, I think the next step should be to decide what to do now that the gas is gone," I suggested. "She did attack us, we should do something about it."

"We've got more guns than ponies," Green pointed out. "I don't think it would be a good idea to just run out and into her clearly set trap."

"That may be what we have to do," said Blowtorch. "No matter what, you've gotta take that first room on the other side before we can really do anything else."

"Yes. I agree that something must be done. The Overmare can't get away with something like this," Gadget added. "And Blowtorch is right. We need to establish a foothold in the commons room before we can do anything more. That has to be the first step. And if we're going to act, we should do it soon. The Overmare is getting clever. If you two hadn't noticed the gas first, she would have gotten the entire stable, and this matter would be over."

"... she almost beat us in one fell swoop..." Cinder looked mortified at the prospect of being beaten down so easily.

"We need to take the first room..." I muttered. There had to be a way. There were still robots on some of the other levels. Maybe we could reprogram... no, the Overmare has us beat in anything computer related. If we ran in fast enough... many ponies would be gunned down by the machine guns on the other side. Besides, if that power armor was out there, then no pony stood a chance against that minigun.

"We could cut a hole in another hallway leading into the other stable," Green suggested.

"That would give us two entrances to guard against, instead of just the one." Cinder debunked.

"Not necessarily," Gadget countered. "It wouldn't matter once we're in. Once we get the slip on the Overmare, we won't have to worry about her security."

"I have a feeling we will," I stated.

"Yeah, the Overmare keeps a steady show of force, especially when there's a crisis. You know this Gadget," Cinder said, flatly.

"Yeah, but how many mares do think she has in security?" Gadget asked.

"How many mares are in that stable?" Cinder countered. "She won't hesitate to put every last soul in there on the defenses."

At this time, I noticed that Syringe had not said a word, though she looked on from the corner, clearly paying attention to the conversation.

"What do you think Syringe?" I asked the silent presence.

"I'm a doctor. Ideally no pony gets hurt. But ponies will, because that's what ponies do," she stated. All eyes turned on her for the cryptic statement.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blowtorch asked.

"I dunno." Green whispered to him.

"That's all we want too," said Gadget. "The less ponies that get hurt, the better."

"Hmm. Well I'm not looking forward to jumping into an already alerted area of the stable. Maybe cutting a new hole wouldn't be such a bad idea. We could get behind the security force and get to the Overmare without needing to break her defense." I suggested, agreeing with Green.

"It's a gamble," Cinder pointed out. "If we hit resistance, it could slow us down long enough for her forces to reorganize into a more formidable defense. She counterattacks and pushes us right back to where we are, only now we're fighting on two fronts."

"So is she," added Blowtorch.

"She has more resources," said Gadget. "Two fronts won't matter to her."

"Well I guess that's it then. We cut a new route behind her line and hope we can make it to her before she catches on," I said, concluding the debate. "Blowtorch, I want you and Gadget to-" I was cut off as Cinder spoke up.

"No, just Gadget. You males are too valuable to be put in the fight."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"There's too few of you left. How many? Sixteen? When the bullets start flying, and ponies start dying, it can't be the stallions. The damage would be too irreparable if it isn't already."

"Unfortunately, I agree with Cinder on this one," Gadget added. "We can't lose any more stallions no matter what."

I was shocked. How could they not let the stallions fight? Was I not the one who broke them out of their cells? Who stood up to the Overmare when nopony else would? It was my decision to say defy the Overmare, now here my... what were they? Friends? Comrades? Acquaintances? They were telling me that I couldn't fight my fight, that I couldn't lead my ponies against our adversary. Free will is a difficult thing to comprehend, especially when you were born to do something that anyone with any sense of free will would never even consider doing.

Here was my free will. My will to fight for myself and my brothers being inhibited. The shocked expression left my face, as I became very firm.

"We're going. We started this fight, and you can bet your flank we're going to finish it," I stated.

"I'm sorry, but no. If you all go off and get yourselves killed in a firefight, then your whole cause has been for nothing," Cinder pointed out. "The mares are expendable. You're not. We'll take care of this. You all just make sure you survive it." Green and Blowtorch started eyeing each other nervously.

"This isn't up for debate. The stallions will not only be going to fight, we'll be the first ponies through the door, and I'll be at the point. That's final," I said.

"Overstallion," Gadget spoke up in protest. "This is bull-headed. If you get yourself killed, then the stable is doomed. We'll have to leave, face what's outside if we even want to live. If you die, you take the stable with you."

"If I die, then its up to you to see this through, and then you can find a way to solve the problem when it arises," I concluded.

"Syringe? What do you say?" asked Gadget.

The blue unicorn in a labcoat groaned. "Yeah, why not. Let 'em go."

Gadget and Cinder glared disapprovingly. That was clearly not the answer they were expecting.

"Right. Now, We're done with this. Gadget and Blowtorch, go get laser-cutters ready. Cinder and Green, go get as many ponies suited up and armed as you can. I'm going to stay here and get ready. I'll meet you all... here." I pointed to a hall on a map of the stable on the wall. "There's where we'll cut through. I don't want anypony late or unprepared. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" barked Green.

"On it!" said Gadget.

BLowtorch and Cinder each just nodded.

"Any questions?" I asked.

"Why are you so stubborn?" asked Cinder.

"All right. Get to it! Be there in an hour," I ordered. I didn't like telling other ponies what to do, but they left me no choice. They were going to take away my ability to fight, and I wanted to be there to see the Overmare taken down.

The group of ponies hurried out the door to oversee the preparations. I noticed Empty Syringe stayed behind.

"Was there something else Syringe?" I asked.

She shook her head slowly. There was a sad look in her eye. "There aren't enough stallions left in the stable," she pointed out, confirming one of my deepest fears. "I ran the numbers. We have 18 living, two in critical, so sixteen capable bucks. All of whom are younger than almost every mare in the stable. Say the death toll of this revolution is... two hundred. That leaves fifty mares to every stallion. There isn't enough genetic material to keep up a long-term population. I'd say two generations, maybe three before inbreeding becomes a serious problem, and that's being generous and assuming that no stallion has any genetic relation to each other whatsoever."

"I... I understand." I replied, looking at my hooves.

"I'm sorry," Syringe said. She reached up and put one hoof on my shoulder. I shoved it away and turned back towards my desk. The monitor was glowing healthily, fed by the generator humming a few stories below, a generator kept running by the ponies who were fighting to save their futures. The ponies pip-bucks were highlighted, giving me a knowledge of every stallion in the stable, well, the ones that had attached theirs to a computer.

Not all of them would survive the upcoming battle. Those that did would be forced to watch their world die slowly. The world that they had been fighting so hard to protect. Ironically, it was the fight to protect it that had ultimately led to its indisputable destruction.

I closed my eyes. Suddenly I felt very cold. Like a bucket of ice water had just bumped on me. The crushing realization that my revolution had been a failure was crippling. "I'm sorry, Harvest. I failed," I whispered to myself.

Maybe if we just stopped and capitulated to the Overmare, her scientists would be able to find a way to save us. They would have to because our peril meant their peril. If the stallions did all died, then the mares would either have to leave or wither. A little voice in my head was telling me that I was out of my league here. I should kneel down and give in to the Overmare. Maybe she would be merciful to somepony that had been an honorable opponent.

No, if I surrendered, she would make the rest of my life excruciatingly painful. I couldn't let that happen. Not to me, not to my fellow stallions, and certainly not to Gadget or Cinder. They were not just fighting to defeat the Overmare, they were fighting for their lives. Like Cinder said, the mares were expendable. If they surrendered, the Overmare would not just hurt them. She would kill them, publicly. They would be an example to anypony who defied her reign.

I shuddered. No, I needed to be there. I needed to see this through. I would take down the Overmare, no matter what it takes. Then I would sift through the ashes and see what I can make out of the ruins of this stable. One way or another, the Overmare was going down, and it was going to be soon.

* * *

 **Whew, chapter 45 of Stable 28 is done. Hehe. What do you all think of the situation going down? I decided to throw in a little bit from the Overmare's perspective. This little gray buck? It seems that the breeding queue is back up. Also, our heroes look to be getting ready for the final push. Could the end of this story be quickly approaching? We'll just have to see.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	46. Chapter 46

Do know the feeling? The feeling that what you are about to do will forever change your life? I know sometimes ponies go through rough patches. Up until this point, my life must have just been one continuous rough patch. I wasn't used to the smooth bits. I had never had anything go my way. No pony had ever even asked what my way was. No pony had ever asked what I wanted. The sense of anxiousness that I felt in this situation was the kind that you get when you know your whole life is about to change. Maybe it is relatable to moving, going somewhere else, somewhere new, changing homes. I had a glimmer of this as I was staring out into the wasteland during that first escape attempt.

Celestia, how long ago was that? Two weeks? Three? A month?

That did not matter. I had also felt it a little on the day of my graduation and institution into the breeding system. My life had changed that day, dramatically, even though it was not really for the better. So I was familiar with this emotion, but I had never felt it this strong. It was freedom. Well, as free as a pony could get living in an underground cage isolated from the rest of the world. But it was freedom nontheless, freedom from her, freedom from the cells, the chains, the beatings, the slop.

What would I do once it was all over? No, don't worry about that right now. It was good to think about the future, but there were some things that needed to be done first.

I was shaking as my magazines clicked into their slots on my SMG's. I had four spare fully loaded magazines for each of them. _Harvest Time_ and the 12 gauge shotgun were slung over my back. The stolen revolver was at one hip, while the zebra saber was on the other. I still had an assault rifle and a carbine in the crate along with my beat-up combat armor. I decided to sport the Overstallion armor because it was cleaner, and it seemed appropriate given the storm that I was about to face.

I slid the two SMG's into their holsters over my shoulders. They went in perfectly. When I was fully armed, I felt like a mobile fortress.

The Overstallion Armor was reinforced with some material that I was not familiar with. It was not steel, like the regular combat armor, but when I had shot it with the revolver, the .357 round had not even dented it. Even so, I could manipulate the material as if it were cardboard. It fit comfortable over my joints, protecting me all over my back, legs, belly, and neck. There was even a cup in the leggings. I appreciated that. Thank you pre-war clothing designers.

Even with the extra padding, it looked like a regular stable-tach jumpsuit, only it had double yellow stripes instead of just the one against the blue background. The helmet and mask that could be flipped up that matched the design, being blue with a yellow stripe down the middle. It had a tinted hard plastic covering making it a little bit difficult to see, but it was worth it for the head protection.

Once I was fully suited up, I left my office. With one last look over my shoulder into the empty room, I sighed and hit the door control. The hydraulic door hissed into place. I thought to myself for a moment about whether or not I should lock it. Deciding not to, I made my way towards the spot where the rendezvous would be taking place.

I had barely rounded a corner, when I almost bumbed right into a mare wearing combat armor. Only she was not just wearing armor, she was geared up just like the soldiers had been in the Equestrian army. I knew the look from the pictures in the Overstallion's office.

"Oh, uh... Mr. Overstallion... uh, sir!" The armored mare studdered.

I chuckled. "Yes? What is it?"

"G-green... was that his name? Yes! Green said he wanted to see you and the other stallions in their bunkhouse. I think he had something he wanted to talk about."

"Well if he wanted to see me, I should hope he has something he wanted to talk about," I joked. Honestly, if I were any more giddy, I would be squealing like a filly. Believe me, they squeal.

The mare looked uneasily left and right. She bore an awkward grin.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Okay? Yes! Yes. I am okay. I'm fine. How are you?" she replied.

I shook my head. "You seem a little nervous about the fight. Why don't you go get some water in the kitchen and calm down a bit, all right?" I glanced at my pip-buck. "It looks like we still have some time left before we head out. You calm down, I'll go talk to Green, okay?"

The mare nodded nervously, then headed off in the direction of the stairs closest to the kitchen. I went down another hall towards a different set of stairs that would dump me out closer to the old supply room that the stallions had taken to settling in.

I opened the door to the old supply room. I saw the conditions that the stallions had been living it. They were using metal shelving as beds, much like I had, with heaps of old linens as mattresses. Each bed had a stack of the same metal boxes that I had had in my closet in Rose's room stacked next to it. I assumed that was where the bunk's occupants kept their personal belongings, at least those accumulated since all of this had started.

I entered the room, and the door slid shut automatically behind me.

The stallions themselves were dressed in a very similar manner to the mare I had met upstairs. They all carried fully-automatic assault rifles, not unlike the one that I was carrying. The stable did seem to have a surplus of them. These looked like ponies ready to do some business. Perhaps the most intimidating about it was how uniform everypony looked with all the gear on. I could barely tell it was Green as he approached me. It would have been a little bit more intimidating if there were more than sixteen of us.

"Hey, I was told that you had something that you wanted to say to us," Green said.

"No, I was told you wanted to speak to me," I corrected. Green looked to Hot Shot, who was standing right next to him with his long rifle slung over his shoulder. Hot Shot shrugged.

"Um nope, we're all set," Green told me.

"Well I was going to address everypony, but I think that should wait until we are about to cut the door."

"Sounds good to me," said Hot Shot.

"Alright then. Let's go," I suggested. I turned to lead the stallions up to the breach. When I hit the door controls on the wall, it the door did not open. I hit it again. Still nothing.

I went over to an intercom on the wall. Fortunately, there was one in almost every room in the entire stable.

"Hello," I spoke into it.

"Hello 26," came a familiar female voice. I heard frightened murmurings in the stallions behind me as the mare on the intercom addressed me by my designation, rather then my adopted title.

"Gadget? What's going on!?" I demanded. "I can't get the door open."

"I know," she replied. "This wasn't my idea. Frankly, I protested it. But I can see why we need to do this."

"Do what? Gadget can you get this door open?" I asked.

"I can."

"Will you?"

"No."

The frightened murmurings turned into gasps of shock, then cries of outrage. Hotshot and Green looked at each other uneasily for a moment. I caught their look of worry. The stallions' new home had just been turned into a brand new cell. It was all happening again. I moved to hook my pip-buck up to the door control. My Overstallion code should override-

My idea was cut off as a click came from the door, the telltale sign of a deadbolt being activated, followed by the entire room going dark. Gadget had cut the power to everything save the little intercom device hanging on the wall. Its little red light was the only thing illuminating the now black cage that encircled the war-ready stallions. They had now taken to beating on the door with their hooves, trying to lift it off the ground, and shouting for the mares to open it up.

"Nah -a -aah," came another voice. Cinder. "Not so fast. You all need to stay put."

"Syringe said that it didn't matter if we went or stayed!" I cried into the intercom.

"I don't give a flying feather about what Syringe said. You're too important to be put on the front lines. If one stallion dies, it could be disastrous."

I didn't want to tell the other stallions what Syringe had told me. I knew this whole charade was in vain. That didn't make it any less important. I needed to prove to myself that I could do this. The other stallions needed it too. We just needed to prove that we were in control of our own lives. Here the mares were once again locking us up and telling us what to do.

"Gadget, Cinder, please don't do this," I begged. "If you open the door now, then I'll forget this ever happened."

"No," replied Gadget. "I'm so sorry. But this is for your own good."

"Buck that! It's for our own good! Gadget, you can't lock us up like this."

"We already have. You can all just stay there and we'll come get you once everything is okay, alright? You have everything that you need, so just relax. We'll take care of it. Now, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, Cinder and I have a battle to fight."

"You just locked sixteen angry, fully-armed stallions in a room in the dark, and say you'll come get us when you're done? Gadget, if you do that, I will personally blow your brains out with the guns that you locked in here with me! That goes for you too Cinder!"

When I finished yelling at my peers over the intercom, I turned around and activated the light on my pip-buck. Sixteen faces were looking at me. Some were confused, others were angry, while others still were scared. All of them were silent. They had ceased their beating on the door, and were waiting.

I looked each of them in the eye. In the green light of the pip-buck, it seemed as if the walls of the stable were closing in. The darkness was encroaching on us as we huddled helplessly against the toxic-green glow of ancient technology.

"What do we do now?" Asked Green, breaking the silence.

"Now... Now we're going to get out," I said.

"How?" Asked one of the bigger ponies. I remembered him from the trip we took to the mare's security block. I had used his rocket launcher to blow open the entrance to the stallion's stable. It was the very same rocket launcher currently slung over his shoulder.

"Exactly!" I exclaimed. "Come on ponies! I said we were going to get the Overmare, and we will. We've all learned so much over the last few weeks. Before, you would have been lock up in a place like this, and you would have just sit and waited for the mares to come and get you. You see? We've already won! You can see it in that one word! We've decided that we're going to get out. And you," I gestured to the stallion. "Have proven that we are already thinking about the next step. How do we get out?

"We can't go back to the way we were. If we do, We'll just ask ourselves that same question, 'how do we get out of here?' You're thinking for yourselves now! You're not slaves any more. We're smarted than that. Now we just need to be smarter than a piece of metal. So use that thought, that free thought. Dwell in it. We'll get out of here, and when we do, the Overmare better watch herself. Because we'll be coming for her."

As I finished my little spill, cheering erupted from the bucks. They stomped their hooves on the ground and cheered. It made me feel good. Okay, I was grinning ear to ear in response to the praise. What? Maybe it was a little egotistical, but it still felt nice to be appreciated.

The cheering died down, and as it did, the room returned to its eerie, gloomy setting. But it felt different now. The ponies had scattered and were now thinking about solutions to our problem. Even though the lighting was the same, with ponies taking up more space in the room, it was less like they were clutching on to something, and more like they were ready to defend it.

Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. An hour. Ideas were tossed, but they mostly just came back to brute force. Finally, the two largest ponies had insisted on bucking the door into submission. Both of them had been saved in the same heist of the mare's prison. The action of bucking came almost instinctively to the monsters of ponies. I watched in awe as the the first, a tannish-brown buck with a darker, chocolate-colored mane jumped, landed on his forehooves, and thrust his hind legs out to strike the door with a force that I never thought a pony could muster.

The other stallion, the green one from earlier repeated the motion with ease. If these two could not get the door down, then nothing we had could force it open. They continued in that manner for a long while before another idea was presented.

"What if we wired a pip-buck into the door so that it would power the door open!" suggested the white unicorn, UP-1.

I looked to Green at the suggestion. He shrugged.

"One wouldn't do it," explained Blowtorch. "But ten might."

Immediately, the stallions began to pry at their pip-bucks. They were facing the same problem that I had faced while in hiding. It takes special tools to mess with a pip-buck. Fortunately, Blowtorch had them on him. "Once a tinker, always a tinker," he said as he pulled them out of his jumpsuit.

One-by-one, the ponies held out their hooves for Blowtorch to remove the invincible devices. Seriously, a pip-buck probably could have survived ground zero of a balefire bomb.

"There, that should to it," he concluded as he tossed another device onto the small pile of stable-tech hardware. He then pulled the panel off of the door control console, and found the wires that led to the door's mechanisms.

"All right, here we go." The two wires hung out on the ground while Blowtorch pulled off the casings of the pip-bucks. He went over to the box by his bed and pulled out a spool of copper wire. He connected all of the pip-bucks to the single wire feeding the door control. Once he attached the black wire to the ground, he activated each of the pip-bucks that he had jury-rigged. They lighted the room plenty, so I turned my light off. The two ponies bucking the door ceased their bombardment to watch Blowtorch's work.

The door hissed, but nothing moved. Sparks flew for a moment from exposed wires. The whole thing took a few seconds as one-by-one, the busted pip-bucks blinked out, fried. Once it was all done, the white unicorn rolled his eyes and used his magic to move the deadbolt out of the way. It had stopped the door from moving.

"Awwwee! It didn't work!" Exclaimed one stallion, eyeing the fried pip-bucks.

"Actually it did," said Blowtorch. We should be able to just open the door now. The magical locking mechanism has disengaged. The two mountainous stallions looked at each other, then at me. I nodded. They moved to get a grip and open the door.

"Wait!" Hot Shot said. "Everypony form an arc around the door, guns ready. We don't know what's on the other side."

"Good idea," I replied. The fourteen stallions made a semicircle around the door, their guns all pointed at it. "When I give the signal, open," I said to the two ponies holding the door.

"Yes sir!" they replied.

I took a deep breath. "Everypony ready?" I cried. "Yes!" they replied.

The only light in the room was the red one coming out of the comm panel, bathing the room in its crimson glow. As if on queue, it went out. My green pip-buck light came on, the stallions' signal. They heaved on the heavy door. The metal protested against the stress, but they pushed against the hydraulics. Finally, it gave, and the two were able to lift the door completely open.

On the other side, was a single guard. Clearly, they didn't think we could get out. I drew my shotgun, and blasted 12 gauge buckshot into the mare's stomach before she even knew what was going on. The assault rifle around me erupted, filling the room with smoke and the smell of cordite. My 12 gauge had blasted the mare clear before the onslaught of the stallions, fortunately.

We rushed out into the hall, half-expecting to see an army.

"Clear!" Cried one of the stallions.

The mare was in shock. It all had happened so fast. Her gun had been thrown clear. Yet she reached for as I stepped out into the hall. I put my hoof on it at the same time she did. She looked up at me. I could imagine her pleading eyes behind her mask saying "Please don't kill me." I wasn't going to kill her. She was fortunate her armor had protected her from my shotgun.

Still, I picked her up and hurled her into the dark room right as the stallions let the door go, trapping our guard in the cage meant for us.

"All right," I said to Green. "This is where the fun begins."

* * *

 **Whoo-ee. Chapter 46 is done! Time to get into the meat of things, eh? Well, as of this chapter going up, it is the day before the new school year starts, so yay me. R!P me.**

 **Anyway, what do you all think about this chapter? This concept was actually a recommendation from one of you readers. Remember how I said that your reviews help keep me inspired? Well, this is a very literal example. So please, feel free to leave a review, and thank you for reading this far. Really, it means a lot.**

 **Brohoof! /)**


	47. Chapter 47

We tore through the stable at a breakneck pace. The halls were empty, save that first guard. Anypony who was able to be was called to action. The stallions... had been locked up and prevented from being involved in the initial strike. It was this emptiness that allowed the sixteen of us to make such great time in getting to the new breach. It really goes a long way to know the terrain. If you're dealing with familiar territory, it made it a whole lot easier to get around.

As we approached the breach that Gadget and Cinder had cut, the whole crew of stallions slowed their run to a trot, then a walk, then we all stopped. The hole was engulfed in smoke, not allowing us to see the other side. Also, this part of the stable had not undergone full repairs yet, and the lights were not functioning. Before us was a wall of billowing grey-ish white phosphorus, the only light coming from the six of us stallions that had not had out pip-bucks destroyed in out escape attempt, and the stable on the other side.

What we heard from the other side was like tartarus itself. Ponies were locked in warfare. I heard the screaming of pain, the pops of gunfire. I heard the pounding as ponies fought hoof-to-hoof. Whatever Gadget and Cinder had done, it did not seem like things were going well.

I reached down and picked up one of the two laser cutters that the mares had used to cut this new hole. I examined it over. It was supposed to be me and Green who cut open this hole. Not them. There will be harsh words when today was over. But first, we needed to get the mares out of their kill zone.

"Do not cower!" I called to the stallions. "We have a job to do! Let's do it!"

With a slight cock of my head, motioning to the stallions that I was moving on, I tossed the mouth-operated laser cutter aside. I slid my Overstallion mask over my face to protect me from the chemicals, and took the fist step back into the mare's stable. The last time I had felt this smooth steel surface under my hoof, I had been dragged to a hidden cell, where I had been put down and decommissioned.

A shudder went down my spine. Images flashed through my mind as I heard the distant screams of ponies in trouble. At this point, it was impossible to tell which side the individual cries were. Nonetheless, they brought me back. I saw that stallion strapped onto the operating table. He was screaming for somepony to save him. He curse the goddesses that they would let something like this happen. At the same time, he prayed that Luna would come down and save him. If it meant that he had to serve her forever as her personal slave, he just wanted a chance to keep living.

All of this had happened while I was escorted to my cell. His cell. I had been forced to watch. I had been unfortunate enough to see many decommission processes. That first one, however, was the only one I needed to see.

Before I emerged on the other side of the smoke, I slammed my eyes shut, trying to get those thoughts out my head. Now was not the time to throw a pity party for ponies that are long-since dead. I took a deep breath as I took a minute to find my bearings.

Once I had, I drew my assault rifle. The sixteen of us emerged on the other side to find nine dead corpses. Seven were wearing the stable security armor, while two were wearing the pre-war soldiers combat armor. Bullet holes pock-marked the walls.

Carefully, we proceeded down the path that it seemed like the mares had took. Now that I had had some time to grow accustomed to a stable, It was much easier to find my way around. Especially, now that I realized that the mares' stable was almost a perfect mirror of the stallions' stable.

The trail of carnage led us to stairs, which we went down. We went one level lower than the Overmare's office level, and proceeded in the direction of the commons area. Seriously? Gadget had used her element of surprise to get the edge on the Overmare's security instead of just going straight to her office. Well, that's why she is an engineer and not a military strategist.

An idea formed in my head, we could get her now. I looked over my shoulder. All sixteen pairs of eyes were fixed on me. We could go back to her office, break in, and that would be that. I looked back forward. The sounds of battle seemed to be coming from everywhere, echoing around the stable due to the natural acoustics of the stable's design.

A pony's voice that I recognized pierced the chaos. Behind me, I heard Hot Shot shuffle. I guessed the mare was Sniper. If I killed the Overmare now, I would be risking a lot. Security could get the valuable minutes it could need to finish everypony else off. Then who would there be to protect us from security's wrath as they avenged their Overmare.

Do I really think their security chief would do that? No. She had exchanged me for over one-hundred of the Overmare's sworn enemies. Not a good deal if she were actually truly loyal to the Overmare. I got the sense that there were some things going on here that I didn't know about.

Nonetheless. I grunted as I looked ahead again and went to back the mares. I would help the mares escape so that we could live to fight another day.

We rounded a corned. In front of us, in a two-by formation, security ponies, heavily armored and armed with heavy battle-saddles and large weaponry, were heading down the halls. Apparently, Gadget's forced were requiring reinforcements to be dealt with.

"FIRE!" I barked.

All sixteen ponies erupted in an uproar of lead as the formation was hailed by the 5.56mm caliber fully-weapons. The security personnel were quickly gunned down, as they were unable to maneuver their large guns in such tight spaced.

Our guns fell silent as a portion of the formation fled back into the corridor that they had been coming out of. In they place, I heard that familiar " **THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!** "

A pony wearing stable-tech painted power armor emerged. The minigun was at her side, attached to a battle-saddle. I felt the stallions behind back away from the impossibly armored mare. Me? I was done running. I tossed my assault rifle to the side, as I drew my zebra saber. It sensed the level of action, and it ignited into flame accordingly.

I found myself charging the mare with the sword in my mouth. I had never been trained in fencing of any sort. It was not exactly popular among stable residents. I should have held the sword in my magic like I usually did, but not this time.

The minigun took a second to spin up. In that second, I closed the distance between me and her. I noticed a blast mark on the helmet of the suit of armor and remembered the grenade that I had lugged at this mare. Haha! Good times.

I leaped and tucked my head forward, my back landing on the mare's shoulders. I sent my weight through the roll, and spun over the mare's back. I twisted my neck, feeling the sword catch on something for a moment before it came loose.

I landed on my hooves on the other side of the mare. I spat the sword out, and drew my two shoulder-mounted SMG's. I pointed them further down corridor behind the power-armored mare. Wait, where had those mares come from? There was another platoon coming out of another hallway farther down. My two SMG's sang their song as the mares down there were splattered with lead. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that small-caliber rounds like these did not do a whole lot against equipment designed to stop a small sniper.

I did hear a distinct " **TUNG!** " on the ground. The power-armored mare would no longer be a problem. That sound was her head hitting the ground. Thank you zebra saber, oh weapon so useful against pony things.

I also learned that those mares down the hall had been shooting me through the duration of my charge. I felt the holes in my flesh suddenly very apparent as the adrenaline rush that I had not even realized I had began to fade.

I kept the triggers pulled on my SMG's until I heard that awful click. The magazine dropped out, as it did when it was empty, and a round from the mares struck my mask. The force from the impact tossed me head-over-hooves. I landed with a sickening thud on the stable's hard floor.

A green hoof stepped over me. Green had been right behind me the whole time. He returned fire towards the mares with deadly accuracy. As one, two, three mares dropped, they began to vacate Green's line of sight.

To my right, from the same corridor that the power-armored mare came down, I heard another set of hooves. A flash of red was followed by a swish of blue, as a familial mare bowled right into Green's side. Tide slammed her shoulder into Green's rib cage. I shuddered as I heard a sickening crunch. Green was resourceful though. He drew a knife that I didn't even know he had jammed up underneath Tide's mask.

The large pony stumbled backwards. She screamed as blood dripped from whatever would Green had dealt her. She lifted him with one hoof and pinned him against the wall again, then she drew her own knife and carved on his neck. He thrashed in protest, while also screaming a cry that I would never unhear.

She finished him off by running the razor-sharp knife down his armor, cutting it all off of him. She stabbed him in the stomach before realizing what was going on.

"A buck! Oh, Shi-" she was cut off as Hot Shot placed a targeted round into the side of her helmet. She fled back down the hall from which she had come, stepping on my fore-hoof as she went.

As soon as she had let go of Green, he fell and lay beside me on the stable floor. I stared wide-eyed as his body convulsed, desperately trying to hold in his life-blood, but it was to no avail.

"Green!" I cried out. I thrust my fore-hoof out towards him trying to get his attention. His eyes just stared off without really looking. They had glazed over.

"I... I... _hic..._ know my name," he said.

"What?" I asked, racking my brain for something, anything that I could do to save him.

"Yeah, all the... all the stallions are getting them" he coughed. A glob of blood burst from his mouth, which led to a steady trickle. "M-my name is..."

"No! Here! Drink this!" I urged. I pushed a healing potion towards him. He had to drink it. He had to. I even pulled the stopper out of the bottle and shoved the purple fluid down his throat, only for him for vomit it back up with the next glob of blood.

"L-lucky Charm." He looked at me with distant, unseeing eyes and a wide grin on his face.

My own vision began to fade. Huh, I led this thing, and here I was going down in the first exchange. Everything below my neck began to go numb from the sheer number of wounds that I had received in that one suicidal charge. Hey, At least I took out that one enemy, and it had to look pretty cool.

My mind began to go numb as well, just as a pony stepped over me and held a healing potion to my lips. I was not as far gone as Green had been. The refreshing grape-flavored liquid washed over my tongue sweetly. I felt many of the injuries that I had received immediately begin to seal.

"Come on! It's time to go!" The mare yelled. The hall was full of similarly dressed mares, all headed for the staircase back towards the second breach. I joined their flight. So did the rest of the stallions. Among the fleeing ponies, I saw Gadget and Cinder both.

I would be meeting with them the moment we got back. I was not looking forward to that conversation.

* * *

 **Alrighty, eh? Chapter 47. We have our little band of rebels attempting to strike at the Overmare where it hurts. But... some things didn't really go according to plan, for the Mares or the stallions. What do you all think? Our hero isn't too pleased with the way his peers have treated him. How do you all think he'll react? Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts, and once again, thank you all so much for reading.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	48. Chapter 48

The mares had been brutally defeated in the fight for the stable. We stallions had gone to their rescue. While we may not have brought down many of the Overmare's forces, our appearance had forced them to pull back from completely encircling the rebelling mares. This had allowed our endangered allies to flee through the hole that we had punched.

Their salvation had come at a price, a steep price. I galloped away from the battle as fast as I could. Though I looked back over my shoulder. Green, or Lucky Charm, as I should call him now, was laying in a bloody heap on the steel floor. Tide had gorged his neck and stomach enough to be quickly fatal.

Tears in my eyes, I ran down the hall back towards our own stable. I had not just lost a fellow comrade, I had lost a friend, a brother, a pony that had been with me since the beginning. He had been reliable, and as far as I knew, well-liked by the other stallions. He was not the smartest of the stallions that had been freed, but he had been learning. We all were.

As I ran down the hall, leaving him with the carnage, I was distraught. I had seen ponies die before. I had killed so many... so many. Why did this one hurt so much? It only got worse as I rounded the corner headed for the stairs, breaking my sight of his body. Behind us, the entire security team of the Overmare was shouting taunts and pelting the fleeing ponies with heavy fire.

I drew my revolver as I reached the staircase. Using the wall as cover, I returned their fire. My .357 did little but slow our pursuers down. One. Two. Three. Four. I had two shots left in the drum. I didn't see a single mare go down.

I watched the numerous rebel mares as they ran by. Most of them looked worse than Lucky Charm had. Their armor was shredded and their weapons were trashed, most had all but run out of ammo, and had resorted to using their guns as glorified clubs.

I was forced to duck into the stairwell, as a round exploded right by my head, coating my helmet with shrapnel. I felt a sharp piece of something gouge into my neck, but it did not feel bad enough to cause any worry. Up the stairs we went. I was among the last ponies heading up, so I used my magic on an apple-shaped grenade that was attached to her BDU. She barely noticed as I pulled it loose, and pulled the pin. Dropping it down the stairs, I left a little surprise for the security ponies trailing us.

I squeezed through the door at our level. Behind me, I heard an explosion so loud that it left a ringing in my ears. Still, multiple ponies were howling in pain, and I could hear them. Sweet Celestia, I could hear them. No time for this now. I needed to put some distance between me and them.

Most of the security ponies up here had been dealt with already, so now we were in the home stretch. As the screams of pain faded to echoes, I noticed that the stallions had barricaded themselves on the stallions' side of the breach.

"Come on! Come on!" "They're coming!" "Go! Go! Go!" yelled UP-1, Hot Shot, and Blowtorch.

six assault rifles were propped up on an upturned table, pointing back into the mare's stable. I ran to the simple fortification, and jumped over it. As soon as the last of the mares were clear, those six ponies released a torrent of gunfire down the hall into the advancing security ponies.

The security ponies returned the volley. Their shots were not powerful enough to penetrate the hoof-thick steel lab table. How had these ponies gotten this all the way here anyway? A look to my right, and I saw the other nine stallions lined up against the wall. The tan buck and green buck were panting. Well that answered that question.

I pulled my shotgun off of my back. I quickly realized that I had left the SMG's and my assault rifle sitting on the ground next to Green... er, Lucky Charm. His name would take some getting used to. No matter, I would have to make due with what I had.

With the hum of automatic weapons fire, the sparks from exploding shots against the stable wall, and the buzz of those shots whizzing by overhead, I jammed as many shotgun shells into my 12 gauge as I could. It held seven.

I matched my comrades, adding my barrel to the other six peeking over the table. Before I fired a single shot, beside me, I heard a cry as I saw red splatter on the table. I looked down as a light blue buck was clutching his shoulder with his hooves. As if on queue, another pony approached from the line of stallions, and dragged him away from the table. Another pony, replaced him instantly.

 **BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!** I saw three mares go down as my shotgun send beads of buckshot into a concentrated cluster into the mares bodies. Even though we were looking down a hallway, the stable was still really close quarters. The Shotgun did its work, as did the other stallions around me.

The mares began to take cover, as they began to go down one-by-one the closer they got.

 **BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!** I saw two more drop. I couldn't tell if they were from my shots or other ponies. The mares quickly cleared out of the stallions' sightline. I wasn't sure how many there were, but it seemed like the entire security force had followed us to this breach. They crammed into rooms and hallways to get some cover from the stallions.

I reloaded my shotgun, and propped it back up on the table. A few mares tried to peek out from their hiding spots to get a few shots off in our direction. I peppered the heads that I saw, but nopony went down. After a moment of this, everything fell silent.

I could feel the blood coursing through my veins. I had wet patches that I knew would need some tending. I heard the shuffling of hooves as the smell of cordite filled the hall. Smoke trickled from the muzzles of barrels on both sides, making a small cloud against the ceiling.

One minute of silence prevailed. Two. Three. It was deafening, and that was after being so close to a live grenade. Beside me, I heard ponies panting and huffing as they sloughed off minor injuries to keep watchful eyes on the Overmare's ponies.

A single mare rose from her crouched position beside an open door. She stepped into the middle of the hall, slowly. All seven stallion muzzles trained on her. Her rifle was pointed at the ground. To my surprise, she took her helmet off.

She was an olive-green mare with a ginger mane. A scar ran across her eye. I knew here. I had serviced her many times. To me, she had been just another mare. I knew that she was a ranking member of the security detail, though not the chief.

The expression she wore was a death-glare. She hated us, not for what we were doing, but for what were putting the stable through. I could respect that.

"Cease Fire! Stand Down!" She ordered.

"But ma'am..." one of the mares protested. "They're getting away."

"I don't think these bucks are going to let us through, are you?" she asked, looking at me. My only response of was a shake of the head. Even though I knew they would be backing off, the stallions kept their guns trained on every mare that they could, until the scene was clear.

I quickly realized just how hopelessly bad at aiming the stallions were. Without SATS, they couldn't hit the stable door from the operators console. All of that gunfire, and only five ponies were dead once the mares cleared their wounded.

"I'm sealing the breach," I said. once I was certain that all the mares were clear.

"How?" asked Blowtorch.

"You two, what're your names again?" I asked the green and tan earth ponies.

"Backcut," answered the dark green buck.

"Hound-dog," answered the tan one.

"Right, Hound-Dog, Backcut, see if you can raise this table up on its end."

The two powerhouse ponies picked up either end of the table and flipped it so that the long side was up, and the short side was on the ground. Maybe it was a bit overkill, but the two of them then pushed the table over the breach. Blowtorch picked up one of the laser cutters and used it to weld the table to the wall of the stable.

"Ain't nopony gettin' though that!" Blowtorch said as he admired his handiwork.

With that, we broke off and headed for the cafeteria. We knew the way, just follow the trails of blood.

When the sixteen stallions made their way there, we found almost every table had injured ponies on them. One of the stallions shed his armor, and ran into the kitchen to start making food for the traumatized mares.

Across the way, I saw Cinder getting bandaged for several bullet wounds, and Gadget was getting her head wrapped by Empty Syringe. I picked up some of their conversation as I approached.

"... and then they started coming from our left. We thought we had the element of surprise on out side, but the Overmare must be drafting as many ponies as she can. We must have been up against half the stable, and we must have killed a quarter of them!" explained Cinder.

Their conversation was halted as I approached.

"Overstall-" Gadget began. I put my hoof up to silence them.

"My office. I'll have a word with the two of you."

"Oooh, someponies are in trouble," said Empty Syringe. She grinned slyly as she finished wrapping Gadget's head.

I lead them out of the cafeteria, leaving Hot Shot in charge. I called Blowtorch and Backcut over as we left. I did not feel comfortable being alone with these two any more. They also did not seem to appreciate the other presences. We quickly made our way to the Overstallion office.

I had Backcut and Blowtorch stand by the door, and told Gadget and Cinder to take their seats opposite the desk. I took mine and stared in silence at them for a few seconds before dropping my head into my hooves.

"What were you two thinking?" I scolded. "I told you that we were going to lead charge, not you! Yet you blatantly went against me! Why?"

Gadget held her head up. Cinder dropped hers a little bit.

"To be quite honest, we thought it was the best move," Gadget replied.

"Best move?" I asked.

"Yes. We thought that by you not leading the charge, the Overmare would not be able to hurt you any more than she already has. If you were killed..."

"It wouldn't happen! Tell me, Gadget, when you first started your attack, did the mares shoot first?"

They didn't respond.

"You came across security patrols in the halls of the stable, now I am asking you one simple question. Did they shoot you first?"

"No..." came Gadget's response, "But does that matter? We're dealing with the Overmare. She-"

"She knows how few stallions there are. They didn't shoot first, because they needed to confirm a target before they killed it. If they shot up all of the stallions, then that's it, right? Everything's done! Might as well all jump in the reactor because the stable will have seen its last living ponies."

"What are you talking about?" asked Cinder.

"The Overmare's ponies won't kill stallions! That's why we were going to spearhead the attack!" I yelled at them.

Cinder looked at her hooves. "They didn't start shooting us, until they got hoof-to-hoof and stripped one of us down."

Gadget looked horrified. "...because they needed to know that they were fighting mares, not stallions."

"Exactly!" I confirmed. "They never found a stallion among your ranks. I wonder why that is... So when we did show up, they just thought that we were another wave of mares. Now because of your actions, Green is dead, and ponies are hurt."

"Wait, Green died?" Gadget asked.

"He was killed by Tide, because Tide thought he was a mare," I told them.

"I- I'm so sorry," Gadget answered.

I felt the tears from his loss welling up in my eyes again. No, not now.

"You can shut your mouth, Gadget!" I barked. She was taken aback at the sudden outburst by a pony so much younger than her.

Silence fell over us again. I was fuming now.

"What am I supposed to do with you two?" I asked them.

"Technically, you can't do anything to us," Cinder said, looking at Gadget. "We're not subjugated to you."

"I never said you were, but you must understand. I don't know a lot about friendship. Now, I do know one thing... FRIENDS DON'T LOCK UP FRIENDS!" I shouted. "I may not be your overpony, but you are in my stable. The two of you are confined to quarters until further notice. If I find out that either of you are out wandering the halls, I'm turning you over to the Overmare, am I understood?"

"I understand," answered Gadget. Cinder just nodded. The two of them began to exit the room between the two very uneasy looking stallions.

"Not yet, I'm not done," I said, calling them back in.

"Not only did you two violate my trust by locking me and every other stallion up inside the bunkroom, but you even threw our original plan away. Why?" I questioned.

"We needed to beat the security detail before we got to the Overmare," Gadget explained.

"By walking past her door to get to the security ponies? She was in your grasp Gadget. You could have cut the head off right there!" I countered.

"Wouldn't two more just take its place?" Asked Cinder.

"That's a hydra sweetie, not the Overmare," said Gadget.

I shook my head. "Our fight is against the Overmare, not the ponies of the stable."

The two mares just sat without saying a word.

Finally, I broke the silence. "Get out of my sight."

They got up and headed for the exit again. "Make sure they go straight to the mare's bunkroom," I told Blowtorch and Backcut. They nodded and exited the room.

As soon as they were gone, my head flopped to the desk hard enough to make my horn hurt. Nothing hurt so much as the memories of those screams, the sounds of the gunshots, the smell of the cordite, the image of Green's... Lucky Charm's body lying limp in the middle of the hall. No, nothing hurt as bad as the knowledge that it was all my fault. Those ponies were dead, and it was all my fault. I cried. Not even the bullet wounds hurt so bad.

I opened a drawer. Inside was a small stash of emergency medical equipment. I jammed a needle of Med-X into my hind leg, and downed a healing potion. Besides that, I just sat there, alone, and cried.

* * *

 **Chapter 48 is done. Wow, that was quick. We see our hero did not appreciate what Gadget and Cinder did too much. I think his equivalent to house-arrest is a relatively easy reprimand. What do you all think? I think I have something in store for Rose next chapter. I wonder what she's been up to... I guess we'll have to see. Anyway, thank you for reading, and feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	49. Chapter 49

Rose trotted down the hall of the stable. It was early and many ponies were still asleep. Under the Overstallion, things were a lot different than they had been under the Overmare. There were no mandatory shifts to work, no quotas to meet, and no obligations to fulfill.

It had been a relief in that sense. Though the stable still felt like a glorified prison, under the Overstallion, many of the things that had been dreaded under the Overmare had become tolerable. Ponies did their work because that work needed to be done, not because they were told to. This was how Rose felt. It was like this were a group of ponies with one common goal, not pieces of a machine.

Even so, all of these ponies had still been under the Overmare. Her influence stretched far. Even if she had no direct control over what these ponies did and did not do, the thoughts and ways of thinking that she implanted into a pony's subconscious remained. They were like wounds in a pony's mind. Until they healed, they could be reopened, and even after, there remains scars.

Rose entered the dining hall. On the far side to the left, doctors were treating injuries of a few ponies that had gotten hurt doing something here or there. Work accidents were not uncommon, especially with how old everything was in this portion of the stable.

To her right a mare and a stallion were in the kitchen. Apparently that one had a particular knack for the culinary arts. The pies, casseroles, soups, and other foods were a testament to the couple's growing experience and experimentation. A slight smile crossed Rose's face as the mixture of smells permeated the air.

On the opposite side of the diner, a door similar to the one Rose had just entered opened. Three mares entered and made for the window that bore the cooks' creations. Like her, they seemed to be looking for some breakfast. Rose noticed that the male chef looked over when they entered. A momentary look of panic crossed his eyes before he galloped into the pantry at the back of the kitchen.

Rose, looking on, raised an eyebrow.

The three mares went up to the counter and took their pick from the prepared dishes. Once they had taken their liking, the group looked around for a place to sit. There were few ponies in here. A couple of mares sat at the table closest to the open window discussing the treacherous situation with the reactor., but besides them the hall was empty save Rose, the cook, the group who had just entered, two doctors each seeing to their own patients at the far end, and a single pale earth pony buck seated near the far entrance they had come in. He looked like he was just finishing up.

Rose noticed the newcomers exchange a look that she did not like. One of the other mares caught the exchange, and whispered something to the others that had been talking about the reactor. As one, the group returned their trays and left. The doctors closed their curtains for privacy with their patients.

The stallion looked around. He noticed a precarious situation and picked up his tray in his mouth. Standing up to leave, he froze with a shudder as one of the three mares called out him.

"Hey, where're you going?" she called.

He turned around slowly, setting his tray back onto the table.

"I'm... er... going to the armory?" he said. His voice was higher pitched. Few of the stallions had a deep voice or really a masculine form for that matter. Probably because the Overmare made sure that anything that may be conceived as a show of power, strength, pride, or anything else was snuffed out of the ponies of the stable, the stallions especially.

"Why? We're about to eat. Why don't you join us for a little company?" asked a second mare.

"I'm... full! I d-don't need any more food. Really, I should be going," The stallion began to back away as the mares advanced.

"I didn't ask if you where hungry, colt!" Glared the first mare. She shoved the stallion's tray off the end of the table and placed hers where his was. The group kept advancing. He kept stepping back, keeping several hoof-lengths between the two until his rump bumped the wall.

"Why don't we find somewhere real nice and quite, huh?" The first mare suggested. Her friends had fanned out so that any way he tried to run, he would go straight into their hooves. They chuckled to themselves.

Rose looked over at the cook. She rubbed her eyes. There was a tear in them. Apparently this had not been the first time this had happened.

Finally, the stallion tried to make a dash for the door. His legs exploded as he bolted straight towards the right-most mare. He didn't make it three steps before the first mare pounced on him. She wrapped her hooves around his neck and twisted, slamming him into the ground, his own momentum being the driving force. She picked up the bruised buck and pinned him to the wall.

All Rose could do was look on, aghast.

"P-please! I- I don't want-" The stallion begged.

"I don't care what you don't want. I'm more powerful, and you don't get a say! I say that we go find somewhere nice, and you do it. You know why? Because you're a buck. Understand? You have to do what I say because I'm a mare and you're not!"

Her face was brushing his. I could see tears in his eyes. Blood dribbled out of his nose from getting slammed. He still tried it. His hind hoof smashed into the mare's hind knee causing her to cry out in pain and her leg to bend at an odd angle.

The mare lost her grip on him and he tried to run. One of the other two mares grabbed him first. He tried again to strike at her, but she saw it coming and deflected the blow. His head was slammed into the side of the nearest table. With that, he was out of the fight.

"Oh, you are going to pay for that, young buck. C'm 'ere!"

She stood over his disoriented body. She held a handle in her mouth. With a flick of her tongue, a blade flipped out.

"No buck will ever strike a mare and go unpunished, do you here me?"

"What in Luna's blessed name is going on in here?" exclaimed a voice from somewhere behind Rose. Looking over her shoulder, Rose saw Circuit Board and Cinder both enter the dining hall. Cinder advanced on the group of mares, while Circuit trotted over to the opposite door.

"Oh, Cinder, I wasn't expecting you to come in here," said the mare

"I can see that, Emerald." Cinder said as she got closer. Emerald's two cronies approached Circuit, but she had the door locked via the panel before they were close enough to stop here.

"You still haven't answered my question, Emerald. What is going on in here?" Cinder asked.

"Rose!" Circuit exclaimed. She motioned with her head for Rose to go over. Apparently Rose had just become backup for these two.

"I... was just showing this pony a few techniques to help against the Overmare." Emerald covered.

"With a switchblade? Don't lie to me! How did you even get that?" exclaimed Cinder. "Now is not the time to go picking fights, okay? You of all ponies should know this Emerald! Especially with the ponies who have saved your flank how many times now?"

"Speak for yourself, colt fondler! You aren't the chief! You aren't even a captain!" Emerald yelled. "You can't tell me what I can and can't do!"

"You aren't a captain any more, Emerald!" Cinder yelled back. "And yes I can! While I may not bear the title, the Overstallion trusts me. I act with his authority, and until I do not, you will do what I say, or I will turn you over to the Overmare where you will be executed for treason! Do I make myself clear?" The four of ponies off to the side had been having their own little standoff. Rose, Circuit, and the two cronies now all looked at the other two as it seemed like they were about to go to blows.

"What does all this matter anyway? That lunatic is not going to change the stable. He's going to lose! This is the Overmare we're talking about! Gadget herself couldn't beat her! There's no way a stallion can stand a chance against her! No way! This little bucker here couldn't even beat me!"

"Do I make myself clear?" Cinder replied, much calmer. The mare huffed and stuck out her chest.

"Yes ma'am," there was a sting to those words.

"This isn't over, Emerald. Right, now all of you are to report to Gadget. She is over in the section that is under maintenance. You'll know where she is, just follow the ponies. Stallions, the Overstallion wants to see all you in the bunkhouse," Cinder ordered.

"Why?" asked the beat up stallion on the floor. He was shaking off the fight and trying to gather the situation again. The cook that had hid in the pantry poked his head out to hear the news.

"Apparently he has something he wants to say to you all," Circuit explained.

"I mean why are we doing this? Did something happen?" the stallion asked again.

"We're making a move." Cinder said, plainly.

"Right. And make sure you report to the armory first. That goes for everypony." Cinder ordered once more, looking at the two chefs who each nodded. The two doctors' patients opened their curtain and left with everypony else.

Sure enough, by the time the ponies from the dining hall made it to the armory, it was like the entire stable was crammed into it. They were testing assault rifles, strapping them to battle saddles, loading up on ammunition, kitting themselves out with wartime armor, and leaving for the rendezvous point. It was almost thirty minutes before Rose was on her way. She and Circuit left together.

"So it's finally happening, isn't it?" Rose asked. The two trotted along the corridors following the ponies toward the meeting point. The hallway was lit by lights lining the ceiling and walkway, but as they got farther away from the settled part of the stable, they crossed into a yet unexplored, unpowered, and unknown part of the stallions' stable. It wasn't long before they were once again stepping over the bones of those who once occupied this stable.

"Mhmm," Circuit Board nodded. "If all goes well, then in a couple of hours all of this will be over."

"If all goes well... A lot of these ponies won't see it though, will they?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Maybe nopony else has to die. Maybe they'll just give up and we can get to the Overmare without incident," Circuit suggested.

"Do you really think that'll happen?" Rose questioned.

"No," said Circuit glumly. "We're about to cross into Tartarus. Celestia knows what will happen."

The rest of the walk was in relative silence. There was an electric buzz in the air. You know that expression about the calm before the storm? Well, this was the very personification of that analogy. Here everypony was safe, well-fed, relatively peaceful, and free. There were ponies who were literally shaking with fear or anticipation.

Some of the more weathered ponies that had been around since the stand in the medical wing held their weapons close. They carried their own equipment. Their eyes were distant and hard in the face of the upcoming battle. There were newcomers. To some of the ponies, like Rose, this would be their first time in the fray. They didn't know what to expect. They didn't know what was coming.

The lines were formed and a briefing was given by Cinder as to the nature of the plan.

Finally, two lines were formed on either side of the hall. At the front, two engineering mares were ready with laser cutters to cut open the sealed stable wall and allow the attack to begin.

There was a red emergency light in the corridor. Gadget was in a surveillance room, and would give a signal when to begin.

"Is everypony ready?" came a voice over an intercom.

"Wait!" came a voice from somewhere behind me, the cook. "Where are the stallions?"

Mutterings began among the ready fighters as to the whereabouts of the ponies that had set this whole thing into motion.

"They'll... be along shortly. If I know them, they won't let us down," said Cinder. There a few more mutterings followed by some rather obnoxious outbursts about the stallions cowering out.

"Stay close to me." Circuit whispered to Rose, who nodded.

The red light turned green. The engineers' laser cutter began their work on the stable wall. In about a minute, they were done. They pushed on the plate, and a doorway fell inward. Rose was rather far up. She could see out of the ancient blackened stable into the upkept relatively nicer-looking grey of the Overmare's.

Two security guards were just rounding a corner on patrol, when they saw the attack beginning. They screamed and ran. The first shot was fired. A mint green unicorn raised her rifle. The automatic weapon was joined by a chorus of others. The two security ponies were gunned down before the had made it very far.

The mares pushed on down the hall to the staircase. They pressed on towards the main level. They were going to get the jump on the Overmare no problem.

As the first ponies approached the room where the Overmare's field headquarters had been, they had met relatively little resistance. Not a single pony had fired back, and the security ponies had been in small numbers.

The attackers burst in the door only to find it empty.

"What?" exclaimed the pony beside Cinder before she was thrown through the air and pinned to a wall. Her armor was stripped off.

"Mares!" exclaimed a voice out of thin air.

"Stealthbucks!" cried one of the engineers nearby. Gunshots ripped the air quickly after that. The mare that had pinned the first attacker was shot at random. She left the room trailing blood. The rebels tried to persue her, but everything was silenced by a note, pure and crisp over the Mare's intercom.

"Traitors, backstabbers, and turncoats," a hellish voice began over the intercom. The Overmare was addressing the attackers, Rose among them. "You once again find yourself within my grasp. How does it feel to have been so close, only to fail once more?"

"Overmare, you coward! get down here and face me yourself!" Cinder declared into the air.

"Hmm, such a tempting offer, but no. Each and every one you has betrayed me. ME! The one who truly controls this stable and everything that happens within it. You turn against me by the hundreds. I'm sure each of you know what the consequences are for such a crime. And you knew full well what would happen the moment you started it.

"I see you, Cinder. A lonely security officer. Unextraordinary. Friendless. The only pony you've ever trusted is yourself. Gadget, my mutinous engineer. She and I have known each other since we were foals. Circuit Board, have you gotten around to telling her yet? No? I'd say you haven't long left now, hmm? Butterbread..."

She continued to name the mares involved in the rebellion as well as something about them. For several minutes this went on. One by one, she blindsided as many ponies as she could.

"... Pink Rose, my own daughter. I really must ask, were were coaxed into this?"

"Enough!" Rose blared. "What are you doing mother? Overmare! You are the worst Overmare this stable has ever had! Why are you so intent on tearing it apart?"

"I'm not tearing it apart, my love. To see the ones responsible for that, you need only to look to your right and left."

"Is that really all you care about?"

"Its my stable, sweetheart. I need to make sure it stays that way, because if it doesn't, then all hope for the future of Equestria is lost."

"It's always about that, isn't it? My stable, my stable, my stable! Why can't it just be us for once?"

"Rose, I gave you everything you ever needed. I gave you comfort! Anything you asked for! What more could you want?"

"You! You were never there! You didn't even attend my cutecenera because you were so concerned with nitrogen deficiencies in the gardens!" There were several gasped from the mares around the area.

"Rose... I had a job to do!"

"Does it not bother you that this is the first time we've spoken to each other in three years?"

"I..."

"To answer your question, no, I didn't have to be coaxed. You're not my mother, and I'm not your daughter. When we get into your office, I'll be the first one to pull the trigger!"

From somewhere down another hall adjacent to this one, hoofsteps could be heard. Gunfire erupted from behind the attackers, along their flanks. Directly across the room, a door opened. A unicorn was maintaining a shield. The mares in the front of the attacking force opened fire, but their shots were useless. From the two sides of the room, power-armor clad ponies with heavy weaponry emerged.

"Fall Back!" Cinder bellowed.

"So it seems, Rose. Then all of you are traitors. You will all pay the price for your actions. Unruly subjects get punished. It was even so under Celestia and Luna. So it shall be with me."

The mares began a mad dash retreat. They were halted in the hallway by another power-armor clad pony, that is, until an armored pony with a sword dashed over the mechanical monstrosity's shoulders and took its head clean off.

* * *

 **Ah, here we are back to Rose. I've been meaning to get this written for a while now. What do you all think? Kind of a different perspective on the events from the last chapter. Also, it seems like some personal prejudices of the Overmare are still prevalent even among the rebels. What are all your thoughts? Thank you for reading, and thank you for getting this far.**

 **Brohoof /)**


	50. Chapter 50

Wet. That was what I felt. And not the kind of wet that mares get all giddy about. Neither was it the kind of wet that comes with a burst pipe or water vane. No, this was entirely different. It was a feeling that I wasn't sure how I had been able to conjure up. All up and down my legs and soaked into my boots, all I felt was the sopping, slimy, nasty gook that was... mud. It was so cold, so stale that it burned. I could feel my body rotting under the conditions.

My vision came to. I was clutching a rudimentary-looking rifle. It had a sliding bolt and was much heavier than the assault weapons that we had taken to use against the Overmare. It had a much smaller magazine too. I was clothed in a green uniform, not unlike those used about half-way through the Great War. I had seen such uniforms in the paintings in Harvest's office. Boots, a belt with a bayonet, some rations, a canteen, a pouch for ammo, and some other equipment. I had a steel helmet on my head with hole for my horn to poke through. I felt like a soldier straight out of history.

I was in a trench, just deep enough for a pony to stand completely up without their head poking over the top, but only just so. The moist ruts were supported by wooden linings at set intervals. A sort of seat or perch was carved into the side of the mud wall. It was on this perch that I was now sitting. The wind chewed at my moldy coat and chilled my soft skin underneath. My teeth chattered, and my body shivered.

Around me, other ponies were in a similar fashion. Ponies matched my reaction to the biting chill. I didn't recognize some of them. Others were vaguely familiar. Some few I knew by name. Cinder looked a lot younger. Harvest was sporting a winter coat, though it had holes. Green was looking over the top of the trench through a pair of binoculars. Ponies lined the walls of the trench each looking like they were ready to drop from the cold, hunger, or in battle. One of Green's... er, Lucky Charm's hooves was clutching a heavy machine gun mounted on the brim of the endless groove.

I joined him in his vigil. Turning around to stand on the seat, I peeked my head over the edge and cast my gaze out to the horizon. What I saw took my breath away. Before me, we were not out on an open field like the battles of old. Above me was the roof of the stable remained in its perpetual state of unpolished grey. In the distance, it faded to black. It wasn't like it was a pony-length above me either. The ceiling towered over the scene, omnipresent and unchanging. It was more like we were the size of a grain of dust inside one of the stable's maze-like hallways. The area stretching away from this line was void of any color besides that constant brown of the mud. Barbed wire and craters pock-marked the landscape which was flat as a breeder cell floor. There was a single object several pony-lengths away. It looked like a mangled heap of metal. Scrap, left full of holes and scorched black from the explosion which destroyed the war machine. Three machine guns were mounted on the body, too damaged to be of any use.

A good distance away, just out of gunshot, there was another line dug in the mud. Guns matching our pointed our direction. I could see the tops of spiked helmets and heads poking out much like there was on our side. Beyond the opposing trench, metal vehicles with treads of steel, turrets with large cannons and multiple machine guns were quickly approaching. They crested the opposite trench as easily as stepping over a crease in the stable floor and began to cross the expanse between the two trenches.

There came a voice from somewhere to my right. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a white unicorn with a blue streaked mane. Most of what he said was lost on the wind. But there was one unmistakable word as the vehicles were nearly right on top of us.

"... the armor is covering their retreat! CHARGE!"

A war cry erupted. Hundreds of thousands of ponies rushed over the top of the trench. They clambered over the slick terrain. The tanks tried to tear into the line with their guns, but our numbers were too great.

I threw myself onto the frame of one of the vehicles. The gunner on top tried to get inside and close the hatch. I caught the hatch in my hooves, and ripped it open once again. Inside, I could not tell if the tank was crewed by zebras, ponies, or something else. I just knew they were the enemy. I pulled a grenade off my uniform, and threw it into the cabin. Only then, did I slam the hatch shut and lock it.

I heard the screaming. It was the same sound that I had heard when I shot the mares in the operating room. And again when that mare had been dragged into the closet by the Overmare's security ponies.

I leaped off the tank and began to run towards the enemy line. I looked over my shoulder, that was a mistake. The crew tried to slip the grenade out of the slot that the driver navigated through. It wouldn't fit. The front of the tank was blown out. Limbs and body parts were thrown all over by the explosion.

I slammed my eyes shut and ran forward. Similar scenes were repeated all up and down the line. What was this hell?

The armor done away with, our forces pushed across the hectic no mare's land that divided the two battle-lines. The enemy halted their evacuation, choosing instead to make a final stand.

 **BOOM! BOOM! Ka-Pow! CRUSH!** Ponies disappeared inside clouds of smoke. They were not weapons fired from the enemy line. Landmines littered the field, buried in the mud. I was peppered with small stones and dirt as to my left and right ponies just exploded to hidden traps. There was a cry of pain. To my left, a small green pony who had tried to hide his wings was tangled in barb wire. He thrashed and tried to push it off of him. More and more, he was tangled and it began to strangle him.

Machine guns erupted from the groove carved in the ground, but we were too close for them to be much good.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I made it to the enemy line. With a cry, I fixed my bayonet, and pounced onto an enemy who raised his to meet me. I parried the strike, mine plunged into the chest. I felt it give.

Withdrawing my weapon, I turned and began to fire down the trench at the other melees that had erupted all along the line. I smelled a sour tinge in the air, and lifted my gas mask. Fire, color, sound, all merged into one sense. A small grey mare with a brown mane lifted an entire tank with her magic and dropped it on top of a part of the line that had withstood our attack. Guns could do nothing to several tons of steel.

I saw an orange pony with a medical cutie mark, a combat medic. He had been skewered by an enemy wearing a gas mask much like mine. That enemy then charged at me, shrieking higher than I ever though could be physically possible. On the ground next to me was a plank of wood with four saw blades fashioned into the tip. I grabbed the makeshift club in my magic, and knocked the attacker's skewer away with my hooves. The club came down on top of the enemy's helmet, crushing it.

I stood over the bloody heap as I heard the guns fall silent. Around me, those I fought with still stood, while our adversaries laid in bloody heaps in the soggy ground.

"It's over!" Cried a white mare with a red and black streaked mane. "We've won!"

Cheering was heard. I, too, was relieved to find the battle over in a victory.

For several minutes there was celebration. Until above us, I heard a steady drum. Looking up, aircraft, fixed with two wings were diving towards our trench. Another no-man's land separated this trench from the next one back. It wasn't over. This was just one step.

A counter-attack had begun. The enemy charged the same way we had. I grabbed a machine gun and flipped it to the other side of the trench toward the oncoming fighters. A whistle sounded from above me as I began to squeeze the trigger, using their own guns to try to repel their offensive. **BOOM!**

Black.

I awoke back in the first trench. Only now it was not wet. It was dreadfully cold. Around me, bodies did not stir. There was a sharp pain in my head. I touched it and drew my hoof away. Blood. The brown mud was crystal-white. The bodies had been reduced to skeletons, worm-eaten and rotten.

I looked over the battlefield. That mangled mass of a tank was right where it had been, the others were gone. There were many more craters than there were last time I had seen this field. The skeletal remains of soldiers of both sides extended into each trench and beyond. The battlefield had become a killing field. Now, there was no one left to clean it up.

Before me, the broken tank roared to life. The bullet holes opened exposing a fiery maw. The cracked headlights turned an locked on me. The frame turned and began to tear towards me across the barren earth. I panicked and reached for a grenade. Where they would normally have been fixed to my uniform, I found empty hooks. I reached for a skeleton's body and saw one. I unclipped it, and hurled it at the feral machine. The machine gun on top began to fire wildly. Shots tore in every direction even though there was no one firing the weapon.

It was right on top of me. **BOOM!** Metal flew. I was fortunate not to have been hit by shrapnel. The tank was reduced to scrap by the explosion. There was nothing left to haunt the world any longer.

Feeling insecure in the trench, I climbed out and began to cross the field once more. The dirt cracked under my hooves, and the wind was crisp as it tore through my coat. I landed in the other trench. The gruesome scene continued unending.

I heard a moaning from somewhere underground. There was tunnel dug into the wall of the trench. I looked down into it. Was there something still alive down there? Oh there was.

Things erupted out of the hole, amalgamations crawling with vermin and parasites screaming through pain, terror, and hatred. I raised my rifle. It was rusted and the stock was split. The grip and been worn off and there were three bullet holes in the wood.

I shot, putting the creatures out of their misery. The first one died with a sputter. The next ones turned their beady eyes on me. Shrieking, they directed their fury in the direction of the only living thing in this environment.

I continued to shoot. Screaming for help as I did so. Now I was not killing for mercy, it was to save myself. I shot until I ran out of bullets. My clip went **Ping**! I put another one in as I scrambled out of the trench. I backed up as I shot once more.

I reached for another clip. I had none. I took my eyes off of the targets to check my bag. It had a large hole in it. I tripped over backward and reached for my bayonet. One of the creatures pounce on me. I drove my knife into its throat. It croaked and I flipped it over onto its back. The shriveled excuse of a living creature disappeared and was replace with The Overmare, my knife still protruding from her neck.

I looked up. The next creature jumped at me. Right before it made contact, it changed. Gadget was pouncing on me. I threw my hooves up, but it was too late. She slammed me to the ground and bit into my neck. Other creatures began biting my limbs and torso. I felt every tooth, every bite. The last thing I remember was a worm tearing itself into one of my open wounds and crawling through my veins.

I woke with a start. I ran my hooves over my body. I was whole. I was in Harvest's office once again wearing my Overstallion jumpsuit. I glanced into the mirror across the room. Tear stains ran down my face. I looked thin. I looked weak. My mind fashioned an image of the Overmare standing right behind me, one hoof over my shoulders. Me, reduced to that wining little colt that she could do with what she wanted.

That was not me any more. Why did I keep seeing myself like that?

I heard a faint whiff. I caught something in my magic. Turning my head, my ace was suspended in the air. The Dealer was perched atop a dresser, looking as forlorn as ever.

"You again?" I asked him. He simply nodded in response.

"Why are you here? You know I've got everything under control," I told him.

His gruff voice answered me plainly. "Do you?" He raised his face, which was hidden behind that ghastly skull.

"Yes! Everypony is safe right now. There's no fighting, and as long as we stay behind those guns, the mares can't get to us." I informed him, not without there being a bite to my words.

"Look around you" he replied. "Is it really the mares that that you are keeping out?"

"Well, any mare that is loyal to the Overmare!" I blurted out.

"What about a stallion loyal to the Overmare?" The Dealer questioned.

"There aren't any," I replied.

"And why not?" he asked. I was taken aback at this point. Why would The Dealer ask a question like that? He clearly knows the answer. I just looked away. I didn't want to think about the dancing bodies in the inferno that had become the cells. Peril had come to the stallions who stayed with the Overmare. Everypony knew that

"If one of your own ponies decided that your enemy wasn't worth fighting any more, would you let them put their guns away?" He continued.

"I-" I started, then halted. To be honest it wasn't really something that I had thought about. "I suppose?"

"Or what about a mare who hates stallions but would fight by your side against a common enemy?"

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked

"Do what needs to be done," he said. "Many perish in the wasteland by believing a fight to be over before it actually is. Make sure you finish what you start. It may be a bit more than you bargained for. It's time to ante up."

I was taken aback, what was The Dealer saying?

The Dealer began to disappear.

"Don't forget!" He shouted and gestured to the card that I still held in my magic. With that, he was gone.

I stood for a moment, contemplating what the dealer had said. I knew I needed to keep fighting until I was finished. For me, the end was when the Overmare was destroyed. When she could no longer hurt ponies the way she had. But the Dealer had also spoken about ponies loyal to the Overmare? What did he mean by that? Was there a traitor on the loose? I doubted it. If there were, somepony would know about it.

I shook my head and headed for the restroom to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later, I was in my office, getting ready to head down for something to eat, when there was a knock at my door.

"Come in!" I said.

It was that little unicorn, UP-1. What had he started to go by? Snowball? Icecap?

"Hello!" I greeted the younger pony.

"Hello, Overstallion!" He said quite energetically. "I've got big news! BIG! I know how we can beat the Overmare! In one go!"

* * *

 **Whew! What a chapter. I had been toying with the concept for this chapter for quite some time now, and it went through quite a few phases, so what do you all think of the end result? I look forward to your feedback.**

 **On another note, we're at 50 chapters. 50! Not Fifteen, Fif-ty. Five zero! What an adventure this has been, and thank you to every one of you that has stuck with me this far. This blows every other project I've worked on out of the water. We're at... what... two years now? Something like that? Jeeze! Once again, a big thank you to all of you who take the time actually read my nonsense. I'd give you all a big wonderful hug if I could.**

 **It's not over just yet though, but I cannot believe that we are at the fifty chapter mark. Feel free to leave a review if you like. Thanks again.**

 **Brohoof! /)**


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